The Alternate Universe: Series 4
by gabbicav
Summary: A continuation of my series 3 Alternate Universe so, read that before starting this one! . This fanfiction explores the world of Doctor Who series 4, had Rose never been trapped in the Alternate Universe...
1. Voyage of the Damned

**VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED**

_If you haven't read my Alternate Universe, this is not going to make sense – so go and read that first! _

_Now, that said - this was really difficult. There was so much that had to happen and so little time. This took me months of drafting and rewriting...the hardest episode yet to get where I wanted to end up and I had to cull a lot of scenes in the end to make it all fit._

_It's an epic in itself – nearly 10,000 words! I hope it's worth it! _

* * *

_Previously..._

_--_

_Rose's face stayed worried. "Doctor. It's time you told me--"_

_CRASH!_

_The TARDIS rocketed sideways and Rose and the Doctor were thrown doubly sideways as everything shook, Jack grabbing onto the back railing behind the seat he was on. All of the lights flashed off then on, and the dull, usually pleasant humming in Rose's mind expressed '?!' somewhat angrily. _

_Rose scrambled to her feet, catching another siderail and hanging on as the TARDIS bucked and a tearing, grating sound ripped through the console room. _

_The source of the sound was immediately evident. The bow of a ship had crashed through the top of the TARDIS. _

_Rose gaped._

"_Don't tell me, you forgot to raise shields again!" Jack pointed, his voice edged with an almost whining annoyance, as though a ship crashing into a TARDIS was a minor thing._

_A lifebelt fell from the ship, labelled 'TITANIC', and landed at the Doctor's feet. _

_He picked it up, eyes widening, then looked to the bow, almost squinting. _

"_What?!"_

* * *

The Doctor put a hand on Rose's shoulder, guiding himself past her towards a lever on the control panel, initiating the self-repair protocols.

Rose rolled her eyes and turned to the bow, and the fissure it had created in the TARDIS. "Why?" she mouthed to the TARDIS, then looked to the Doctor.

He gave her a sideways look, an eyebrow raised, but continued working, turning a handle vigourously.

Jack called out something about the assembled Lords of Genghis Khan being pushovers. Rose ignored Jack, and walked swiftly to the Doctor's side. Behind her, she heard the TARDIS repairing itself, and the presence in her mind told her to relax.

"Fixed?" Rose asked the Doctor, eyes glancing over the console.

"Ye-up, just about does it," he answered evasively, before scooting off toward the other side of the console.

Rose stared at him in disbelief. He didn't need to be anywhere _near_ the vector tracker. What was he doing? Avoiding her? She waited, forcing patience, and forcing her frustration down.

"So!" the Doctor pipped happily, clapping his hands and glancing at Jack. "Anybody fancy a stroll about the Titanic?" he flashed his 'I'm so clever' smile.

"What about him?" Jack pointed to the Master, still unconscious on the control room floor.

"Ah," the Doctor had obviously forgotten about him. "Move him to the brig. We'll decide what to do with him later."

Rose glanced at Jack, then back to the Doctor. "We have a brig?"

Neither answered her. Jack was looking between the two of them with a somewhat knowing smirk on his face as he lifted the Master over one shoulder and made for the interior of the TARDIS.

"Gotcha. Unconscious Time Lord to the brig, then showers to de-grease," Jack said carefully, then suddenly shrugged, and flashed a grin over his shoulders. "Of course, depends on the party. Tell me, Doctor, is _this_ Titanic the one with the monkeys and--"

"Go," Rose cut him off, laughter bubbling to the surface but not quite making it's way out of her. She pointed to the door leading to the ship's interior. "Shower. Now."

Jack raised his eyebrows and moved. "Yes ma'am," he moved to leave, then turned back quickly, finger raised in warning. "Don't – leave without me," he said, somewhat uncomfortably.

The Doctor leaned against the console. "Wouldn't think of it!" he returned happily.

Jack barked a laugh as he left. "Make me believe you, Doc."

"Oh. Oh – right, of course," the Doctor answered quietly, and shook his head a little bashfully. He then looked up to Rose. "Don't you want to get changed? Going to be a big party out those doors," he nodded to them, a tempting excitement on the edge of his voice.

Rose shrugged, tucking a stray piece of fringe behind her ear. "Oh, I dunno, I'm kinda getting used to this whole military look," she said idly, then nodded to the controls, an amused challenge in her tone. "Vector tracker sorted?"

"What?" he replied quickly, then looked at it, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Oh! Right, yes. Well," he grinned at her. "You know. Had to lock onto the six axes to fully locate the centre of gravity," he fumbled, nodding up to Rose.

"Rubbish," Rose shook her head, part of her wanting to laugh at herself, for knowing so confidently that it was rubbish. "She locks onto the nearest centre of gravity automatically."

"We just crashed into a ship, I wanted to give a hand--!" he shrugged, taking a step toward the ship's interior. "Now! Better go dust off the tuxedo of doom!" he said cheerily.

Rose sighed a little as he took his exit, and he must have heard her, because he turned back, his face blank but his eyes sad.

"Soon, Rose. When there's time," his lips formed a line. "Just trust me."

She stared at him for a moment before nodding. "'kay."

His face lit up as he snapped a grin, and darted off into the TARDIS.

Rose looked up to the time rotors, frowning. The TARDIS hummed in her ears and told her simply, 'patience'.

The Doctor was right. They had crashed into the Titanic. Couldn't pass up this opportunity. There just wasn't time.

Ironic, really, Rose smirked, shaking her head, huffing a laugh and retreating to the wardrobe.

* * *

A half hour later, Rose dashed toward the open TARDIS door, shoes clopping on the grating floor. She could see The Doctor and Jack's backs, peering outside, both in tuxedos. They turned toward her as she drew nearer.

"You can't sneak up on anyone in those shoes, Tyler," Jack grinned, raising his eyebrows at her and whistling. "Nice work. Reminds me of something, though," he pondered with a cheeky grin.

"Yeah, me too," Rose grinned, doing a spin in the TARDIS' entrance. The red number with black shift she'd found in the TARDIS' wardrobe sparkled, invoking a hidden memory; an image of her and Jackie Tyler, sitting on a couch passing a box of tissues between each other while a soppy ballad played in the background. "Can't remember what, but I'm sure it'll come to me," she laughed, dismissing the memory with a shrug.

She moved forward, poking her head outside the doors. "What's it like?"

The TARDIS had parked next to a drinks tray filled with crystal goblets and a stack of shipping crates. She raised an eyebrow. She had expected something _slightly_ more grandiose.

"Not much to be said for the store room. C'mon, party's this way." Jack stepped past the two and headed for a large polished wooden door.

She smiled up at the Doctor, and was about to move forward, but his blank, distant look stopped her. She hesitated. "You all right?"

The Doctor shook his head slightly, clearing his throat and breaking free of whatever thought had held him. "Yes, well, you'll certainly fit in!" he held his hands out and she took them bobbing a little. "You look beautiful," he added quietly.

Rose smiled and dropped his hands, gripping his elbow instead. "Let's go!"

They caught up with Jack as he pushed the door open, to allow the sounds of string music, quiet laughter and the tinkling of glasses to flow into the small store room they were leaving. Jack strode through as though he owned the place, and Rose and the Doctor followed, arm in arm.

She surveyed the room, trying to look as though she belonged. It was small, richly furnished in wood and lush looking red and gold carpets, a few couches in the centre of the room. Looked like some sort of reception area.

Rose turned her head, inspecting, and noticed a few golden angels, life size, standing at intervals. She tugged on the Doctor's arm, and nodded to one of the angels.

"Doctor, do we know them?" she asked quietly.

The Doctor stared at one of the golden angels for a moment then shook his head. "Never seen them before."

"Then...why are they so familiar?" she tried to shake the feeling.

"Familiar form, angels, to many races," the Doctor reasoned, shrugging evasively. He turned her around to face the doors they'd just entered through; two more angels were behind them, either side of the doors, hands clasped in prayer. "Messengers of a supreme being, helping the faithful, providing guidance and performing miraculous tasks. And of course," he shrugged quickly, "seen in many of the festive seasons including -- oh, wait – here we go."

The Doctor's speech was interrupted by a cheery male voice that filled the room over a PA system.

"_Attention all passengers,"_ he spoke. _"The Titanic is now in orbit above Sol three, also known as Earth."_

The Doctor and Rose glanced at one another quickly.

"Guys?" Jack called from the side of the room. He was peering out a large circular window.

"_Population: Human,"_ the man over the PA continued as Rose and the Doctor moved to Jack's side.

They looked down, at Earth.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Christmas."_

"Riiight..." the Doctor whispered, peering at the planet below.

"Doctor, I've never heard of this Titanic," Jack muttered. "When do you think we are?"

The Doctor stepped back from the window. "Well. Uh," he put his hands in his pockets, then grinned at Jack and Rose, shrugging. "Christmas, by the sounds?"

Rose rolled her eyes and stepped over to a touch screen in the wall, displaying a yellow star ship with the words "Max Capricorn Cruiseliners" encircling it.

"Maybe this'll tell us," she touched the screen. The logo immediately peeled backward to reveal a bald man with vivid blue eyes and a narrow moustache.

"Max Capricorn Cruiseliners," the man said proudly.

"Who's the cueball?" Jack stepped up next to Rose, watching the screen.

"Shh," Rose hushed, watching.

"The fastest. The furthest. The best," the man boasted. "And I should know because my name is Max," he finished with a smile, and Rose caught the glint of a gold tooth. The grinning face of Max was replaced by the starship logo once more.

"Okay, not so helpful," Rose muttered.

"Let's keep moving," the Doctor ushered them toward another huge wooden door.

"At least we know who Max is," Jack joked.

They left the reception area and entered a grand ballroom. The threesome paused by a light sculpture of a ship to take in the room - there were men dressed in tuxedos and women in ball gowns. Tables dressed in white cloth with gold napkins. Waiters and waitresses in black and white, serving drinks and platters of food. A casino filled half the room, with rich looking folk gambling at a few of the roulette tables. A band on stage were performing Christmas carols, and a couple of people danced.

"Very festive," the Doctor grinned at Jack and Rose.

A steward passed them. "Merry Christmas," he nodded.

"Merry Christmas," the Doctor answered automatically, happily.

"It's merry now_," _Jack watched a couple of the stewards' retreating forms closely.

"Oh, stop it," the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"C'mon Doc, this is a party, isn't it?" Jack smirked. "You two go dance, I'll go," he motioned toward the casino, packed with people, searching for an explanation.

"Introduce yourself?" the Doctor supplied with added innuendo.

"Exactly," Jack tossed them a winning smile.

"Be good," Rose called after him.

"Hey. It's me!" he called back, and swaggered off .

Rose shook her head, laughing, and turned to the Doctor. "So--"

He cut her off with a gentle hand on her arm. "C'mon," he said softly.

He stepped past her, and up to one of the strange golden angels.

"Evening," he addressed it. "Passenger fifty-seven. Terrible memory," shaking his head. "Remind me. Uh, you would be...?"

_Right, _Rose nodded, remembering who and where they were.

"Information," the robotic angel spoke. "Heavenly Host supplying tourist information."

"Good, good," the Doctor looked at Rose. "Tourist info, at our service."

Rose regarded the gold face, her head slightly to one side. "Where have we come from?" she asked it critically.

"Information," the Host started again. "The Titanic is en route from the planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt. The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures."

"So, why Earth?" Rose shrugged. "They aren't _that _primitive--" she started, unsure why felt compelled to defend the planet.

"Information," the host turned it's black cavity eye sockets to her again. "All designations are chosen by Mr Max Capricorn, president of Max—Max—Max…"

The host's head started twitching, as it repeated the word Max in higher and higher pitch. Rose took a step back.

"Ooh, bit of a glitch," the Doctor reached into his pocket.

Before the sonic was out, a steward raced over.

"Apologies ma'am, sir," he addressed them. "We can handle this," he waved to some additional stewards to assist him, and with the flick of a wrist, switched the host off and they started carrying it away.

The steward turned back to Rose and the Doctor, all smiles. "Software problem, that's all. Leave it with us. Merry Christmas to both of you."

And with that, they left, taking the deactivated Host with them.

Rose frowned as she and the Doctor started moving back toward the ballroom floor. "That was strange."

"Well, you heard the man. Just software," the Doctor said in an unconvinced voice, then turned Rose around, looking out over the room. "Titanic, though. It's an odd name for a star ship. Have to wonder if they know _why _it was so famous in the first place?" he trailed off.

"Hmm," Rose leaned against one of the unused casino tables, and noticed Jack, in the crowd, taking a drink and flashing a smile at a pretty blonde waitress.

The Doctor moved around beside her and sighed, putting an arm around her shoulders. "He doesn't waste any time, does he?"

She laughed, looking up to him. "He never does."

The Doctor regarded her a moment. "And you _know _that?"

Rose nodded. "Sort of. Dunno really, it's weird," she shook her head, trying to explain. "Like, I know who I am. An' I can remember going places with you, Jack, and a load of other people. But I can't remember when it happened. Can't...pinpoint it. It's like a dream, slipping away," she shrugged.

"Oh! The memories," the Doctor seemed to suddenly realise what she was talking about.

"What did you think I meant?"

"Nothing! Nothing," he piped up quickly. "What else do you remember?"

Rose smirked, trying not to laugh, but continued. "Little things. Like that tree," she pointed to a massive Christmas tree at the back of the room. "It's...just a tree, right?"

"Right..." the Doctor agreed unsurely.

"But when I see it, I think 'danger!'" she tried not to laugh again. "I dunno why."

"Oh, I expect there's a good reason," the Doctor sighed.

"What, that we were attacked by a Christmas tree?" she laughed at the idea.

The Doctor shrugged. "Perhaps once or twice," he smiled secretively.

She laughed, looking around the room again, then pointing to one of the Hosts by the wall. "And them. Those Hosts. They seem benevolent enough, right?"

"Minus a few software glitches, right."

"Yet when I look at them, all I can think is..." she paused, her mind flashing images, like fragments of a dream.

--

"_...it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly…timey-wimey…stuff" the Doctor stares at a camera. _

_A dramatic, life-sized statue of an angel stands in a courtyard, both hands over its eyes. _

"_I don't want to be stuck in 1969!" I insist._

"_We can't stop it. Can't control it," his breath flutters over my neck and ear warmly. I close my eyes._

"_Don't blink. Don't even blink," the Doctor raises his voice and points to the camera._

--

Her smile fell as she turned back to the Doctor. "Don't blink...?"

His smile was gone, too. He looked around the room, as though for answers, then faced Rose again. "I'm sorry, Rose. I can't explain, not now."

"But if you knew what it was like, how frustrating it is--" she insisted quickly.

"I do know what it's like," he cut her off. "Don't you remember that?" he asked quietly, stealing another glance at the room full of cruise guests and staff.

Rose pursed her lips and strained her mind a moment. "No," she answered decidedly. "Nothing."

The Doctor put a hand on Rose's cheek. "But I told you to _never _forget that," he looked sad.

"Forget _what?" _Rose was growing weary of not knowing.

"You wanna apologise to the lady _right _now!"

The Doctor looked up at the angry call from across the room, and Rose realised she still wasn't going to get any answers out of him, turning to face the next distraction.

It was Jack. Rose could see his glaring face over the top of the casino tables, challenging a rich looking man in a tailcoat, who also looked furious. She saw the other man say something but couldn't discern what exactly. The Doctor was already hurrying over to them; Rose skipped into step beside him.

By the time they'd reached Jack's table, only a matter of seconds, the other man was absolutely livid, pointing at the blonde waitress from before, who was picking up remnants of broken glass and stacking it on a tray.

Rose crouched down to the waitress, who looked mortified.

"You all righ'?"

"--Staffed by idiots!" tailcoat fumed.

The waitress nodded slightly. "Yes, thank you miss," she continued cleaning up.

"_You _ran into _her, _she was just doing her job--" Jack insisted firmly.

"Here, let me help," Rose collected a few of the glass fragments.

"Thank you, miss, I can manage," the waitress said automatically, a hint of frustration in her voice.

"No wonder Max Capricorn is going down the drain!" the man sniffed, giving his coat a final dust before storming off.

"Don't you walk away from me—!" Jack thundered, taking a step after the retreating tailcoat.

"Jack! Jack," the Doctor caught him before he could start a brawl. "Leave it. Come on."

"It's all right," Rose continued to help the waitress, then nodded in the direction of the angry man. "Gits like that. Wish you could just throw their drink in their face, righ'?"

The waitress let a laugh slip, and ducked her head. With the last of the glass on the tray, she stood, a smile playing on her lips. "Thank you, miss."

Jack, who looked like he was having trouble calming down, returned and stood by the waitress as the Doctor came back to Rose's side.

"Astrid, this is Rose, and the Doctor, some friends of mine. Guys, this is Astrid Peth, the delightful gal who's been bringing me luck all night," Jack introduced.

The waitress, Astrid, laughed and looked embarrassed again, giving Jack a sideways look. "Just drinks, sir."

She nodded to the Doctor and Rose. "Nice to meet you, sir, miss."

The Doctor smiled. "Just the Doctor."

"And just Rose," Rose added with a half laugh.

Astrid looked surprised by the informality for a moment, then returned to staff-mode. "You enjoying the cruise?"

"Um…Yeah, I suppose," the Doctor scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh. Yeah, it's um. Really nice," Rose nodded awkwardly.

Jack gave them an odd look, then smiled down at Astrid. "Life of the party, these two. What about yourself Astrid Peth? Long way from home, Planet Sto."

"Doesn't feel that different.," Astrid shrugged. "I spent three years working at the spaceport diner, travelled all the way here…and I'm still waiting on tables," she raised her eyebrows, looking unimpressed at herself, then bobbed her head and walked toward a table by the window.

Jack raised his eyebrows at Rose and the Doctor, before following Astrid.

"Oh. Oh, Jack, no..." the Doctor trailed off, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Rose shook her head and laughed, watching Jack resume conversation with Astrid. "C'mon. It's cute."

"Cute?!" the Doctor turned to Rose, mock aghast. "It's like...watching a...a lion hunt down a giselle!"

Rose glanced up at the Doctor. "'Cept that Jack's harmless--"

"Ha!" the Doctor laughed, then nodded to the pair. Rose saw Astrid blush, then throw a dishcloth at Jack. "You'll see. Any minute now, he's going to pounce."

Rose rolled her eyes and grabbed the Doctor's sleeve. "C'mon."

She towed him toward the dining tables.

* * *

The Doctor held the sonic screwdriver at his side and aimed at a spot behind him. A bottle of champagne popped its cork at another table, spraying all over a group of first class passengers.

Foon, a heavyset woman dressed in a purple country-western outfit at their table, gaped. "Did—Did you do that?"

The Doctor shrugged and put the sonic screwdriver away. "Maybe."

Rose gave him a look and the Doctor smiled at her innocently.

"Oh, we like you!" Foon laughed.

A voice sounded over the PA system.

"_Attention please. Shore leave tickets Red six-seven now activated. Red six-seven."_

Foon's husband, Morvin (also dressed in a purple cowboy outfit) took a ticket out of his pocket. "Red six-seven! That's us," to Foon. They hurriedly stood. "Are you Red six-seven?"

"I dunno - whaddyou think?" the Doctor sparkled a smile at Rose.

She shrugged and smiled at Morvin and Foon. "Might as well be!"

"Come on!" Morvin put his arm around Foon. The pair looked very excited. "We're going to Earth."

Morvin and Foon hurried toward a small gathering of people crowded around an old man dressed in tweed, holding up a red sign with '6-7' printed on it.

"Red six-seven. Red six-seven. This way, fast as you can," the old man was calling.

The Doctor whipped out the psychic paper as they reached the back of the group.

"Great minds," Jack spoke from behind them. Rose and the Doctor both turned quickly, to see Jack standing with _his _psychic paper in hand, and Astrid on his arm.

The Doctor's eyes rested on Astrid's hand on Jack's elbow for a moment. "You sure, Jack?"

Astrid looked worriedly behind her. "He's right. I'll get the sack, you know."

"Nah!" Jack flashed a smile down at Astrid. "C'mon Astrid, live a little. Think about it – brand new sky!"

Rose could see Astrid's concern taken over by an excited sort of hope. She smiled at the woman, in what she hoped was a reassuring way. "Christmas eve down there. Late night shopping, sales everywhere!"

Astrid tried to hide her excited grin again as the old man called out for red six-seven ticket holders once again.

Jack stood forward, brandishing his psychic paper. "Red six-seven plus one, right here."

The Doctor still seemed a little dazed at Jack's adoption of Astrid, but broke out of his reverie as Jack stepped forward. "Yes. Us too," he held up his own psychic paper.

The old man glanced at the papers unsurely for a moment, then handed over some metal bracelets. "Uh, quickly, sirs, and please take the teleport bracelets if you would."

The Doctor handed Rose one of the bracelets idly, fastening his own to his wrist, once again falling into thought, glancing at Astrid and Jack.

Rose frowned. "You all right?" she whispered.

The Doctor startled. "What? Yes. I'm fine," he fiddled with his bracelet, checking the clasp.

Before Rose could press him for more, the old man at the head of the crowd put down his red sign and addressed everyone.

"To repeat, I am Mr Copper, the ship's historian," he introduced, "and I shall be taking you to old London town in the country of U.K. ruled over by good King Wenceslas."

Rose threw the Doctor an amused smile, which he returned, but neither of them spoke.

"Now," Mr Copper continued, "human beings worshipped the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws, and his wife Mary."

Rose covered her mouth, masking a laugh with a cough. The Doctor nudged her in the side, which only made things worse.

The 'historian' continued, undeterred. "And every Christmas Eve the people of U.K. go to war with the country of Turkey."

Rose turned away from Mr Copper to calm down, and noticed Jack, looking bemused. A burst of laughter escaped but before anyone else noticed it, Rose felt a hand over her mouth, muffling her.

"They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner… like savages," Mr Copper continued.

It was the Doctor, elbow around the back of her neck, hand covering her mouth, addressing the historian as though the position was normal for them. "Excuse me, sorry, sorry," he called out. "But, um…where did you get all this from?"

The look Mr Copper gave them was priceless, as he looked between them. The Doctor glanced at Rose as she grabbed his hand with both of hers and tugged to remove it. Tears of laughter sprang to her eyes as the historian answered them.

"Well, I have a first class degree in Earthonomics. Now stand by..." he stuttered, then turned to a couple of technicians behind him at a podium.

"_Calm yourself," _the Doctor sent to her.

Rose ceased trying to break the Doctor's grip, letting her hands go slack, and concentrated on slowing her breathing. _"Okay! Okay." _she returned, trying to quell the laughter from her thoughts. _"I'm all right."_

"_Promise?" _the Doctor's tone was joking; he was enjoying this. His grip, and stare, didn't falter, though he raised an eyebrow at her, just slightly.

Rose glanced up at him, and a forgotten memory crashed down on her.

--

_He gritted his teeth, and slammed me against the hallway wall, his arm pressed along my collarbone, his hips locking mine in place. _

"_What are you doin'-?" I cried. _

"_You stupid ape," the Doctor cut me off, gritting his teeth, his eyes flashing and churning like a wild thunderstorm._

--

The memory faded, her eyes darting back to his in fear. She didn't realise she was holding her breath.

He must have noticed the change in her, because his grip slackened immediately and he released her.

"What's wrong?" quickly.

She took a step back, she couldn't help it, trying to find her balance and look anywhere except into those eyes.

The Doctor looked around them quickly, then put his hands on Rose's shoulders. "Rose--?"

She flinched, startled, and the Doctor stopped talking as she raised her eyes to his again. She saw none of the rage she'd seen in the memory; only concern. So, what had she just seen?

Before she could respond, a high pitched voice called out from about hip height.

"And me! And me! Red six-seven!"

The ticket holders turned, to see a short, red-spiked alien in a tuxedo shuffling through the crowd holding a red ticket.

Mr Copper turned around. "Well, take a bracelet, sir," he handed another metal bracelet over.

The Doctor took a step forward, double-taking between Rose, and the newcomer. "Uh, but, um, hold on, hold on," he looked down. "What was your name?"

"Bannakaffalatta," the alien answered confidently.

The Doctor paused. "OK, Bannakaffalatta. But it's Christmas Eve down there," he addressed Mr Copper now, but the man didn't seem to be listening. "Late-night shopping, tons of people. He's like a walking conker."

Rose barely registered the Doctor prattle as a warm, buzzing feeling engulfed her and in a blink, they were on a dark, deserted street.

"No offence, but you'll cause a riot 'cause the streets are going to be packed with shoppers and parties and…oh."

The Doctor turned on the spot, confused.

"Why's it empty?" Jack asked quickly.

Astrid sighed happily. "It's beautiful."

Rose looked around the quiet street, also registering finally that something was wrong. She shook the Doctor's voice echoing, calling her a stupid ape, from her mind. There had to be some logical explanation. Had to be.

* * *

A lone newspaper seller had confirmed that the whole of London was deserted, apart from himself and the Queen, out of fear of alien attack for the third year in a row. The old man talked of some 'big bloody spaceship' that made everyone stand on a roof, and a Christmas star that had drained the Thames the previous year.

Rose listened to his retelling, watching highlights on a small television by his side, recognising everything but not remembering it. She shook her head and was about to ask him why he was still in London when the warm glow enveloped her again, and she found herself, and the rest of the shore leave group, back in the reception room on the Titanic.

The Doctor sounded annoyed. "I was in mid-sentence!"

Mr Copper cut in hurriedly. "Yes, I'm sorry about that. A bit of a problem. If I could have your bracelets--"

The steward who'd shut down the host before joined Mr Copper. "Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta, we seem to have suffered a slight power fluctuation," he smiled. "If you'd like to return to the festivities. And on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners, free drinks will be provided."

The ticket holders seemed to like this idea, and dispersed.

Jack, Rose and the Doctor all looked at one another slowly, and worriedly.

Astrid didn't appear to notice their concern.

She bounced excitedly, and whispered, "That was the best!" leaning up to kiss Jack on the cheek. "The best!" she repeated, grinning, as she picked up a tray from a nearby table and returned to work.

"Sure, no problem," Jack muttered, distracted, as Astrid left. "Doctor, what was that?"

The Doctor wasn't listening, and stepped toward the steward.

"What sort of power fluctuation?"

* * *

After getting zip from the steward, the Doctor hijacked one of the wall panels sporting the glinting gold grin of Max Capricorn, and buzzed it momentarily to reveal a map of the star ship.

"Shields are offline," the Doctor muttered, confusion in his voice as he buzzed at another area of the panel.

"Something in common with you, then," Jack commented, leaning over the panel himself and pressing a couple of buttons on his wrist band.

Rose turned away from the panel, her mind still racing; torn between interest in what was going on, and her hidden memories, that kept butting in and distracting her.

Tiny spots of fire burned at the back of her vision. She blinked, but the fires didn't go away. That was weird, she thought. She took another step forward, peering out the window more closely.

It wasn't her vision. It was meteors. Heading straight for them. And he'd said the shields were offline.

"Uh, Doctor?"

* * *

They'd tried contacting the bridge. The Doctor, desperately, had tried to warn everyone about the oncoming meteor shower. Before long, a tiny piece of rock had smashed through a window. One of the seemingly benevolent hosts had then informed them, calmly, that they were all going to die.

All hell broke loose. With three large impacts, accompanied by a resonating 'BOOM!' each time, the star ship rocked in orbit and tables, chairs, drinks and people went flying. Rose managed to grab hold of a railing and Jack leaped to Astrid's side, protecting her as they fell to the floor.

When the worst of it was over, the Doctor hurried to the side of one of the stewards, frowning and rising, shaking his head at Rose.

Rose steadied herself, nodding. "It's over?"

The Doctor shook his head again. "It's stopping."

Jack helped Astrid to her feet. "You okay?"

"I think so," she rose shakily, leaning on Jack's arm.

A steward clambered over some rubble and uneasily tried to restore order. "Ev-everyone…Ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta, I must apologize on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners. We seem to have had a small accident."

The surviving passengers all started talking at once, both angry and scared.

Rose stepped up next to the Doctor, watching him. He was staring at the steward, frowning.

"I don't think it was an accident," he said finally, in a confidential voice to Rose.

She didn't answer.

* * *

It certainly didn't seem to be an accident. The hosts started killing people, for one, and someone had to have programmed them into it. All attempts to hail engineering or the other passenger levels, were met with static, or screams. Finally, the Doctor made contact with the bridge, and a nervous sounding midshipman, whom he instructed to fire up the engine containment field to feed into the engines, and stop the nuclear storm drive from pulling them down to the planet and wiping out life on Earth.

After some worried doomed talk from the remaining passengers – Foon and Morvin, the idiot in the tailcoat, who's name was Rickston Slade, Bannakaffalatta, Astrid, and a few others – the Doctor announced they were going to climb through the ship, reach the bridge and save the earth.

"Hang on a minute," Rickston called out. "Who put you in charge and who the hell are you anyway?"

"You wanna listen to him, trust me," Jack called from Astrid's side.

The Doctor answered anyway, his eyes flashing. "I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I'm the man who's gonna save your lives and all six billion of the people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?" he challenged.

Rickston paused before answering with a weak, "No."

Without further ado, they made their way through the ship, clearing a path in the rubble.

* * *

After a close altercation with one of the deranged hosts, the party stopped in a relatively untouched room for a rest, and Jack contacted the bridge to check on the midshipman. The Doctor moved to his side, and they began assessing the situation.

Rose leaned against a table, picking at the tatters of her sleeve, watching Jack and the Doctor, wondering what she should be doing.

Astrid joined her, sighing. "Are you hungry, miss? One of the buffet's survived the collision," she pointed across the room to a long table laden with food that the others were helping themselves to.

Rose shook her head, smiling. "No thanks."

Astrid paused a moment, then laughed at herself. "Sorry. Must be the waitress in me. Here we are," she surveyed the room, "in mortal peril, and I'm still offering food," she shook her head. "Some great help I turned out to be."

Rose paused as an image of herself, dressed in a waitress outfit, holding a tray of drinks, flashed in her mind. She turned, and regarded Astrid a moment. "You're not just a waitress, though."

Astrid looked up to her, wondering. "Miss?"

"I mean, you can be anything you want to be."

Astrid smiled sadly. "That's kind of you, but it's easy for you to say, miss. Easy for those who have made it."

"It's Rose," Rose reminded her hurriedly. "And I'm...I dunno, I haven't 'made' anything. I just travel around with this lot," she indicated Jack and the Doctor, who were still in contact with the bridge.

"Sounds like fun," Astrid smiled, nudging her. "So…you a Time Queen from Gaddabee too? Is it what you do, travel about and save people?"

"It's Gallifrey," Rose nodded, then shook her head. "No. I mean, I don't think I am. I dunno any more," she trailed off, rolling her eyes.

Astrid's smile faded a little, and Rose turned back to her, patting her hand. "Astrid, sorry. 'm a bit of a head case right now," she tried to smile back at the waitress.

Astrid renewed her smile. "Don't apologise, miss. I don't think anyone saw this coming," she indicated above them, around them, her eyes settling on Jack and the Doctor. "Look at them. Going to save us all, those two, you wait and see."

Rose regarded the pair again, as they both turned and walked towards Astrid and herself. Rose watched the Doctor closely, as her memory of his voice in her mind echoed once more, calling her a stupid ape. She shook free of the memory, and answered Astrid slowly. "Yeah. I'm sure they will."

"Deck thirty-one," the Doctor joined Rose, resting on the table. "That's where this started."

"And that's where it's going to finish," Jack sounded final.

Astrid nodded between them. "Let's go, then."

"No," the Doctor answered instantly. "I'm gonna find out what it is. Jack, Rose, Astrid – I need you to keep going, lead the others back to reception, it's the only way out of here."

Rose gave him a look as Jack protested. "Not gonna happen. I remember that much."

* * *

The running started again. They were pursued by Hosts over the nuclear storm drive, and lost half their survivors to the struggle; Foon, Morvin, and Bannakaffalatta – they were dead. Gone. The rest of the group were pushing on determination, apart from Rickston, who wouldn't keep his mouth shut despite several threats from Jack to clobber him.

They entered a ruined control room, Jack through last, sealing the door with a flick of the wrist band.

"I'm not asking, Rose, I'm ordering you to go--"

"You don't order me, and I'm coming with you. It's what I do--"

"Knock it off, both of you. Doctor, I'm coming with you. Rose, you're going to reception with the others," Jack cut their arguing short.

"Jack!" Rose started to protest.

"Not negotiable," he fired, and turned to Astrid.

"Astrid," Jack took her hands. "Use Bannakaffalatta's EMP transmitter as a weapon against the host, and keep going."

"Doctor--" Rose turned to him to protest, since Jack wasn't listening.

"Rose," he grated quietly. "We've seen enough death and destruction today. I need you to lead these people. Lead them to safety," the Doctor insisted, looking down at her finally, holding out his hand.

She looked down, to the sonic screwdriver.

"Here. You will need it to unlock the doors."

Rose didn't take it, a stubborn challenge in her voice as she shook her head. "I'm coming with you."

"_Please, _take it," he said urgently, offering again. "There's not much time."

He stared at her, for the longest moment, his eyes tired but determined. Rose didn't budge, so he took her hand, and placed the sonic screwdriver in it, clasping her hand in both of his as he did so.

"Rose, if anything happens and we don't--"

"Don't," Rose interrupted him quickly. "Don't even say it."

The Doctor frowned, as Astrid _did_ say it.

"Are...you coming back?" Rose heard her speak in a small voice.

She looked to the waitress, and saw her staring at the EMP transmitter, a cylinder that the red cyborg had sacrificed to them only moments ago, looking scared.

Jack smiled tenderly down at her. "We'll be back before you even _start _to miss me," he let go of her hands.

"I dunno about that," Astrid laughed, tears in her eyes.

Jack leaned down, and kissed Astrid softly.

The Doctor shifted, letting go of Rose's hand, and cleared his throat. "Jack. We're leaving."

Jack lifted his head, breaking the kiss. "Hold that thought," he winked at a breathy-looking Astrid, then faced the Doctor.

"Let's move," Jack pressed some buttons on his wrist band, opened their door, and the pair hurried onward.

Mr Copper appeared at Rose's side.

"We must continue. The Hosts will not be far behind - they seem to have a scent for us now."

Rose sadly watched the Doctor as he turned around, pressing a panel to close the door, his eyes darting to Rose's as it slid shut.

She turned abruptly to Astrid and Mr Copper. "Right. Let's go."

* * *

Astrid and Rose lead the way – Rose buzzing through the doors with the sonic screwdriver, and Astrid discharging the EMP transmitter whenever the hosts came near. They made it to reception, without losing any more passengers.

"Quick, seal the door, make it secure," Astrid said as they hurried into the reception room. Rose buzzed the doorway with the sonic screwdriver to force the lock to fuse for the moment.

"We're safe," she announced blankly.

"Good."

Rose turned, and caught something Astrid tossed to her. Rose looked down at it. "What's this?"

"Teleport," Astrid said airily. "We're safe. We're going after them."

Rose smiled, for what felt like the first time in hours. Astrid grinned back at her, then pressed an intercom.

"Bridge, this is Reception!"

After a pause, the nervous sounding midshipman responded. _"Who's there?"_

"Astrid Peth. One of the survivors. Tell me, can you divert any power to the teleport system?"

"_No way. I'm using everything I got to keep the engines running."_

"But we just need one trip. To deck thirty-one," Astrid continued as Rose hurried to her side.

"Please," Rose called into the intercom. "It's for the Doctor, and Jack. They've gone down there on their own, we can't just leave them."

"It's time we did something to help them," Astrid spoke into the intercom, but looked with determination at Rose. Rose nodded.

In a moment, the midshipman responded. _"Giving you power."_

"Yes!" Rose cried as Astrid grinned and tossed the EMP transmitter to Mr Copper.

"Mr Copper, we're going to find them. You hold the fort."

Before the confused Mr Copper could catch the transmitter, the women were teleported away.

* * *

They arrived behind some shipping crates. Astrid and Rose ducked, peeking over the top of the crates. Rose could see the Doctor, and Jack, standing with hands raised. A number of Hosts had their hands perched above their heads, ready to remove their killer halos.

Rose noticed a glint of gold from something that definitely _wasn't _a Host, and did a double-take.

"Is that?" she whispered to Astrid, pointing.

"This interview is terminated," Max Capricorn commanded.

At least, the head of him commanded. The rest of him comprised of machinery, some sort of elaborate wheel chair-come-life support device.

"Whoa!" Jack jumped into a more defensive stance as the Hosts removed their halos.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Rose heard the Doctor calling out quickly, and bit her lip.

He was slipping into stalling mode. "Hold on! Hold on! Hold on! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! I can work it out. It's like a task," he babbled.

Rose looked around for some way, _any _way, to help them. Astrid motioned 'forward' to Rose, and before she could respond, hurried forward, behind another stack of metal scaffolding. Rose glanced down at the sonic screwdriver. She couldn't use it on the hosts, but she might be able to zap Max's circuits with it.

"So…" the Doctor was theorising. "Business is failing and you wreck the ship so that makes things even worse. Oh yes! No. Yes!" he announced, swivelling to Jack. "The business isn't failing."

"It's failed already," Jack supplied, resigned. "Past tense."

Rose ducked forward to Astrid's side again. Max Capricorn continued, boasting about the board of directors of Max Capricorn Cruises being thrown in jail for mass murder, once the Titanic wiped out the Earth.

"So that's the plan," Rose watched the Doctor stride forward, furiously, toward the head in a box. "A retirement plan. Two-thousand on this ship, six billion underneath us, all of them slaughtered," he spat. "And why? Because Max Capricorn is a loser."

"I never lose," the head of Max hissed, rolling forward.

"You can't even sink the Titanic!" Jack jibed.

"Ha!" Capricorn barked. "I can cancel the engines from here."

An alarm started to bleep immediately, a woman's voice announcing that the engines were closing. In the distraction, Rose hurried forward again, hiding behind a pillar, motioning Astrid to join her.

Astrid went to move, then ducked as a pair of Host hurried past her. Rose flattened herself against the metal pillar.

"You can't do this!" Jack yelled.

"You can stop this, stop it now, you don't have to kill them!" the Doctor fired at the same time.

"Host, hold them!" Max ordered, ignoring the pleas.

Rose looked quickly between the Doctor and Jack as the hosts restrained them, and back to where Astrid was hiding.

Astrid peeked over the scaffolding and shook her head to Rose, pointed left, then to a vast chasm emitting orange light that undoubtedly lead directly to one of the engines, and darted off to the left, ducking as she ran. Rose followed Astrid with her eyes. Forklift. Chasm. Right. It was a plan, at least. Now to buy Astrid some time to get into position.

"Not so clever now, are you?" Max goaded. "Time for me to retire. The Titanic is falling. The sky will burn..."

Rose turned back to see Max Capricorn grinning manically. "Let the Christmas inferno commence. Oh!" as an afterthought. "Oh, Host! Kill them."

"Yeah, well I think you'll find that's a lot easier said then done," Jack tried to struggle forward, but the hosts held his arms firmly.

A pair of Host stood in front of them, and held out their halos, ready to throw.

Rose couldn't bare it any longer, and strode forward, holding the sonic screwdriver at arms length. It was now or never. She hoped Astrid was ready.

"Security protocol one!" she called out confidently.

Max Capricorn laughed, seemingly unfazed by her appearance. "Oh, look, another little one, wanting to play."

"Rose, don't!" the Doctor called out.

"The security protocol's are overwritten with him here!" Jack cried.

She ignored them all, and buzzed the sonic screwdriver directly at Max's life support chamber as Hosts moved toward her. A couple of plastic tubes in the head chamber burst out of their sockets and started issuing steam. Two Hosts reached for her and Rose ducked, but a third caught her, restraining her hands. The sonic screwdriver flew across the floor.

"Astrid, now!" Rose cried, struggling.

"Astrid?!" Jack called, urgently.

"Mr Capricorn!" Astrid's voice rang out from behind them. "I resign."

The waitress pushed the forklift into gear and stepped on it, accelerating toward Max Capricorn's chamber and smashed into it before he knew what was happening.

Host from all directions started throwing their halos at Astrid as she lifted the life support chamber and head of Max Capricorn off the ground. Halos smashed into the forklift but none hit Astrid as sparks flew everywhere and the wheels span, smoking.

"Astrid, don't, they've cut the break line!" Jack screamed.

Rose watched on, held by the host and helpless, as Astrid struggled with the forklift. She flicked Jack a meaningful look, before raising the fork higher, lifting Max completely off the ground, and stepping on the accelerator, sending them both flying into the orange-lit chasm.

"No!" Jack screamed.

The Hosts suddenly let go of them, and Jack raced to the edge and leaned over. "Astrid!"

Rose and the Doctor scooted to Jack's side, holding onto him as he called down into the rift.

With a sickening lurch, Rose saw Astrid falling, reaching her hands up to them, as she fell toward the bright centre of the engine. She looked away quickly, biting her lip as tears escaped her, holding Jack's shoulder and arm firmly as he continued to call after her.

Her eyes met the Doctor's, who were also bright, as he coaxed Jack away from the chasm.

"Bring her back!" Jack cried desperately. "Can't we bring her back? I promised her!"

"I'm sorry," the Doctor pulled Jack further away from the edge. "I can't."

Rose hugged Jack closely and he sobbed into her shoulder.

Over Jack's shoulder, Rose noticed the Doctor rising.

"Where are you going?" she sniffed.

The Doctor looked down at her, as she held Jack for dear life, and frowned. "It's not over."

With a thud to the ship, a female voice announced that the Titanic was falling.

Jack froze in Rose's arms, then slowly pulled away, standing and facing the Doctor, a dangerous look in his eyes, his fists clenching.

"Doctor, she did _not_ die in vain," Jack grated.

Rose stood, retrieving the sonic screwdriver. "Let's end this."

The hosts surrounded them, took their hands, and began to fly them upward at a rocket speed. The metal angels raised their fists to the sky and punched through the roof, landing them in the bridge.

* * *

With the Doctor and Jack at the wheel, they had no trouble regaining control and steering the ship back upwards and using the heat of re-entry to fire up the secondary drives.

Midshipman Alonzo Frame rang the ship's bell, cheering as Jack and the Doctor shook hands, laughing, bringing it back into orbit around Earth.

"We made it!" the midshipman cried, hugging Rose.

Rose patted his back, sobering. "Not all of us."

The Doctor heard her, his eyes snapping to Rose, then falling to her wrist.

"Jack!" he pounced. "Teleport!"

"What?"

The Doctor pointed to Rose frantically. "She's wearing a teleport bracelet – I mean - they both were!"

"Astrid was wearing one!" Jack caught on, triumph in his voice. "C'mon!"

"What?" Rose turned as the Doctor and Jack dashed out of the room, then raced after them, calling. "What about it?"

She entered the reception room, to see a bedraggled looking Rickston and Mr Copper, sitting on the floor. The Doctor and Jack were fiddling with the teleport podium.

"Rose, sonic!" the Doctor called.

Rose threw it across the room. He caught it and began buzzing immediately.

"Mr Copper, what's the emergency code for this thing?" Jack was frantically pressing buttons on his wrist band, then dialling codes into the panel itself.

Mr Copper looked dazed. "Uh, let me see..."

"What the hell are you doing?" Midshipman Frame entered the reception room.

"We can bring her back," Jack grinned across the room.

Mr Copper turned to Rose and Frame. "If a passenger has an accident on shore leave and they're still wearing their teleport, their molecules are automatically suspended and held in stasis so that we can just trigger the sh--"

"That's it!" Jack pressed a final couple of buttons, then stepped back.

Within seconds, a glowing, transparent Astrid appeared beside him.

"I'm falling," she announced quietly.

"Only halfway there," Jack returned to the panel. "Come on, Doctor!"

"I keep falling," the transparent Astrid looked confused.

Rose bit her bottom lip and looked to the Doctor. He didn't look happy. His shoulders dropped, as he stepped off the podium and stared at the faint form of Astrid Peth.

"Doctor, here -" Jack called out urgently, lying on the ground and pointing to the panel above. "Feed back the molecule grid, boost it with the restoration matrix!" the teleport sparked as Jack pressed more buttons. "Help me!"

The Doctor was deadpan. "Jack, she's gone."

"No!" Jack grated, as more sparks fell from the podium into his hair.

"She's gone, Jack," the Doctor repeated in the same tone.

Jack ignored him, and hurried out from the podium, looking at Astrid and dusting off his hands.

She was still transparent. Jack kicked the teleport in frustration, then turned to the Doctor.

"You can do anything!" he screamed. "Help me save her!"

"I can't bring her back," the Doctor said sadly.

"Stop me falling," Astrid begged.

Jack heard her this time and the anger seemed to dissipate from his face. He turned, slowly, and stepped toward Astrid.

"The system was too badly damaged. She's just atoms, Jack. An echo with the ghost of consciousness," the Doctor told him.

"She's stardust," Rose sniffed, wiping her face and watching as the transparent form took notice of Jack, standing in front of her. Seemed to focus on him.

Jack reached out a hand, and stopped before touching her, his hand shaking. "You're not falling, Astrid," he told her in a wavering voice, full of passion and grief. He tried to smile. "You're flying."

The stardust dissipated and flew in a single beam out the window, into space.

Jack turned back to the Doctor and Rose, his face covered in tears.

"Doctor," he said definitely. "Take me home."

The Doctor glanced at Rose, then nodded, slowly, to Jack.

* * *

To Cardiff Bay.

Rose, the Doctor and Jack leaned against the rails near the Pierhead building, looking out.

Jack's face was stony, subdued, as he turned to the pair. "Time for me to get back to work."

Rose frowned, hugging him tightly.

"Come with us, Jack," the Doctor offered. "The ol' team, back together again, for good this time!"

Jack shook his head, hugging Rose back. "I have a team, here, who need me. I miss them."

Rose pulled back. "_We _need you too."

Jack managed a laugh, cupping Rose's cheek with his hand. "Nah, you don't. Not you two," his eyes were bright.

The Doctor held out his hand, and Jack moved to shake it. Instead, the Doctor gripped his wrist, and buzzed his wrist band with the sonic screwdriver.

"Hey! I need that!" Jack pulled his hand back.

"I can't have you walking around with a time-travelling teleport," he explained, popping the sonic back into his pocket. "You could go anywhere – twice."

Jack shook his head at the Doctor. "Whatever you say, Doc. And what about Rose?"

Rose looked up to the Doctor. "What about me?"

"Yes, what about her?" the Doctor echoed.

Jack raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, at the Doctor. "Doctor, you're going to fix this, before there's another accident and she _doesn't regenerate._"

The Doctor looked away evasively, and Rose pursed her lips.

"I know, Jack," she spoke up, shaking her head. The Doctor's eyes snapped to her, but she kept focus on Jack. "I'm...a stupid ape."

"Rose!" the Doctor was quietly shocked.

"It's all right," she shook her head at the Doctor now, quickly. "I _know." _

"But obviously, not enough," Jack raised his eyebrows at Rose, and started to back away, pointing to the Doctor. "This is what I'm talking about, Doctor," then to Rose. "Make sure he tells you the truth, and soon. Don't go on wondering like I did," he then smiled, and the pointed finger turned into a wave. "I'll catch you kids later."

Rose tried to smile as Jack turned and jogged toward the water tower.

The Doctor sighed and leaned back out over the railing, surveying the bay, fiddling with something in his pocket.

After minutes of silence, the Doctor broke it. "Daft things, these chameleon arcs. Make us forget too easily who we really are. Shows us out of context memories to confuse matters further," he laughed bleakly.

Rose turned, and looked up to him, but he was staring at something silver in his hand, looking somewhat distant as his laughter died.

He looked down to her then, his face once again serious. "Of all the things for you to remember, why that? I don't think you're a stupid ape."

Rose leaned over the railing again as well. "Then you'd better help me remember why you said that."

The Doctor looked uncomfortable. "It was a ruse. To make the Master believe I was on his side. I had to act quickly, when I saw you there," he met Rose's gaze again. "I'm sorry."

She could see none of the anger in his eyes that she'd caught in that memory. But she couldn't help wondering; would he return to hating her, once she became human again?

At the moment he just looked scared and sad. His eyes betrayed warning, but there was a deeper level of concern she was having trouble interpreting.

"Look at you," he spoke very quietly. "You haven't asked to stay this way. Haven't asked why," he smiled, his eyes bright, as he reached out and tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. "To stay a Time Lord – it didn't even cross your mind, did it, once you figured it out?"

Rose couldn't help but lean into his touch. He noticed, leaving his hand resting on the back of her neck.

She closed her eyes, reached her mind out to his as she felt him lean toward her.

"_But will I lose you?" _the thoughts escaped her mind as his lips barely touched hers.

The Doctor gasped as though she'd thrown a bucket of cold water over him, and she hurriedly withdrew, her eyes flashing open again.

"I'm - I'm sorry--" she started quickly.

"No, no, I'm sorry," he recovered quickly, then laughed, "Am _really _not used to you being able to do that, Rose."

Rose frowned, unable to share his laughter. "You won't have to get used to it."

Her words hung between them, and the Doctor looked out over the Plas. Jack was well and truly gone.

"He's right, you know," the Doctor announced, meaning Jack, Rose assumed. He closed his hand around whatever he was holding, then put an arm around her shoulder. "It's Christmas day," he said cheerily, hugging her. "Time to wake up and go to your mum's."

* * *

Memories flashed past her eyes quickly, quicker than she could comprehend them. Waking up. Eating chips. Laughing with Mickey Smith. Arguing with mum. Catching the bus. The word 'run'. The Doctor, as he'd previously been. The Doctor, as he was now. Daleks. Living Plastic. Cybermen. The words 'Bad Wolf', chasing her, everywhere.

She felt dizzy.

* * *

"Oh, my head," Rose winced, raising a hand to her temple, before knocking on her mum's door at the Powell Estate. It was a different apartment - she didn't have a set of keys, yet.

"It's temporary," the Doctor assured her, touching her temple and smoothing the hair away from it. "Caused by the thoughts and secrets of Rose Tyler flooding back into your mind, like pulling a plug in a sink full of water. Pop!"

Rose swatted him, shaking her head. "You're lovin' this, aren't you?"

He crossed his arms proudly. "I'm just glad you're back to your old self! Rose Tyler, the Time Lord, brrr! It's just not you!"

"You didn't seem to mind," Rose smirked at him cheekily hopping from foot to foot in the cold, rubbing her hands together. "C'mon mum, where are you?"

Jackie Tyler opened the door grinning, wearing a paper hat and holding a glass of wine. Music flooded out of the flat and Jackie grinned.

"Rose! Sweetheart, you're all right!" she hugged her tightly. "Ooh, don't you _ever_ do tha' to me again, you hear? Next time," she held her daughter at arms length. "You're using the teleport, an' I'll worry about himself an' savin' the world, got it?" she nodded to the Doctor.

Rose laughed, and agreed, amazed still that her mother was okay. For the better part of a year, she'd believed her mother was dead. Or worse than dead, trapped in hell. And here she was, in a new flat, having a Christmas party, all smiles, completely safe.

The Doctor stepped forward. "Ooh, come here you," he hugged Rose's mum. "Merry Christmas, Jackie!"

"That's Mrs Tyler to you," Jackie extracted herself, pointing her wine glass at the Doctor in mock warning with a grin on her face. She noticed she was holding the glass out, and changed her tune immediately, smiling at Rose. "Drink?"

Rose burst out laughing at the Doctor, who looked bemused, and tugged on his arm. "C'mon, we've earned it this year."

They went inside.

* * *

_The end! _

_Before anyone mentions this, if you're wondering why Rose lost a bit of her fight part way through (and stopped acting like Time Lord!Rose and more like herself) it was all from the 'stupid ape' memory. It was from that moment she knitted together she was a human, and so I had to start reverting her to her usual self. _

_I hope you enjoyed it!  
_


	2. Partners in Crime

_**PARTNERS IN CRIME**_

* * *

"How...what happened?" the Master held his head in his hand, his other cupping his long black as he blinked into it. He groaned and closed his eyes.

"It's all right," Rose tried to sound reassuring, leaning across the table, placing her hand on his. She forced herself to be kind, reminding herself, for what felt like the millionth time, that he was the Master no more.

The Doctor seemed to be having an easier time of it, as he tucked into a muffin. "It'll wear off, trust me. Must have been a _very _good party."

The Master winced. "I don't remember," he looked up, focussing on Rose's hand, still resting on his, then his eyes travelled up to meet hers. Rose forced herself to smile. It was _very _weird, looking into those eyes and not hating him.

"I'm sorry, I feel like an idiot," he gulped, "but...who _are_ you, exactly? I know your face, but everything else..."

Rose frowned a little and glanced at the Doctor.

Before she could answer, he spoke up again, laughing a little. "Wait," he winced, speaking slowly as though it ached him to do so. "Who am _I?" _

Rose's heart jumped, as she realised how badly they were doing. They hadn't even thought of a name for him. The TARDIS usually took care of all of that stuff, but they'd dragged him out of the TARDIS the moment the chameleon arc had done it's job - before he regained consciousness and was reminded of anything TARDIS, or Time Lord related.

The Doctor bumbled. "Now, that's a thing, forgetting your own name! It's..." he paused, stalling, glancing out the window of the cafe.

Rose looked out the window as well, for inspiration. There! A white transit, 'Southwark Art Museum' printed in bold, black letters on the side.

"Sam," she turned back to the Master quickly, moving her hand from his to raise her cup of tea and take a sip. She swallowed, nodding. "Your name's Sam. I'm Rose, this is the D-" she paused. "This is John. John Smith," she decided. "We're your friends."

"Sam?" the Master winced again, rubbing his temples. "Sam who?"

"Tyler, of course!" the Doctor, stood, pushing his chair back under the table and patting 'Sam' on the shoulder.

"What?" Rose asked oddly. Jack was the only one who referred to her as 'Tyler', occasionally.

"Sam! You know, good ol' Sam Sammy Tyler," the Doctor grinned cleverly.

Rose gave him an unimpressed look, realising what he'd done. Oh yes, he would think that was funny, wouldn't he?

'Sam' looked slightly less confused, still rubbing his temple. "Tyler," he said slowly, nodding. "Yes. That's...familiar, I suppose."

"'Course it is," the Doctor pipped merrily, indicating very slightly to Rose that it was time to leave.

Rose finished her tea in a quick gulp and stood. "Right. We've got to--" she pointed to the outside world, lost for an excuse that didn't sound like they were abandoning him. Which was exactly what they were doing.

Despite him being the Master, and at a number of times, a maniac, he looked so confused, so lost, that Rose again began to have misgivings about their tossed-together plan to reintegrate the Master into society, as a human. It had been either that, or the brig for the rest of his life.

She turned back to the Doctor, looking up at him with worried eyes.

"But what if--"

"He's fine," the Doctor assured her.

They said their swift goodbyes to the Master, and left him, only slightly less confused than before, in the coffee shop in Southwark.

The Doctor marched away, without looking back, his hands in his pockets.

Rose raced out of the coffee shop after him. "But what if he starts to hear the drums again?" she called out, stopping behind him.

The Doctor paused, a few paces from the store, and spun around to face Rose. Regarded her for a moment, flicking a glance back at the coffee shop. "It's his life. His choice."

"Won't anyone recognise him?" she insisted.

"Nah!" the Doctor scrunched up his nose. "Not with that haircut."

"But the drums! What about those, they drove him mental--" Rose started again. There were just so many what ifs.

"Exactly," the Doctor cut her off. "Rose, he was normal once, driven insane by the sound of drums. We've given him a fighting chance to lead a relatively normal life, now!" he insisted, in a tone that suggested to Rose that he was trying to convince himself, as well. "We'll keep his watch safe, in the TARDIS, and he'll live out his life here, none the wiser. Sure," he tilted his head, "he may remember a few odd, residual timey-wimey things. But he can't _do _anything about them, can he? He'll dismiss them, think they're dreams, just like you and I did," he looked at his feet at this last.

Rose pursed her lips at him, still feeling uneasy. "But we've left him with nothing. It...doesn't feel right."

"We've left him with a name, that's something," the Doctor answered calmly, nodding back at the cafe again. "And a good name at that," he smirked at Rose.

A smile crept onto her face. She couldn't help it.

"The rest is up to him," the Doctor continued brightly. "Can't live his life for him. Now!" he grabbed Rose's hand, grinning cutely and signalling the end of the conversation, swinging her hand back and forth. "Quick visit to your mum's?"

Rose nodded. She'd promised as much; that if they were in London, they would visit, no matter how 'busy or important' they thought they were.

She glanced, one final time, behind her, to the cafe. She could see the Master- no, she reminded herself – Sam Tyler – sitting by the window, looking out into the street as a couple of cars honked their horns at the traffic lights.

The Doctor was right, she smiled. They'd given him a new chance at life. It was now his choice, what he did with it.

* * *

"Been keeping busy?" Rose asked from the couch.

Jackie Tyler sat back with a groan on the other side. "Oh, don't get me started, 's been a madhouse. Got ol' Esme from number three dropping in for a rinse in about an hour. How 'bout you, sweetheart? Haven't seen you two since Christmas."

Rose nodded, smiling into her cup, shrugging a shoulder. "Just been travelling, same as always."

Jackie nodded, standing up and going to the window, peering out the blinds. "Same as always could mean anythin' to you two. What's he think he's doin' out there, anyway? What if the neighbours see 'im, what'll they think?"

Rose frowned and moved to the window. The Doctor had dropped Rose off with a quick 'hi!' to Jackie, and had retreated, to the TARDIS to do some archiving, he'd explained.

Archiving indeed.

She laughed as she spotted him; or at least, his legs and shoes. He was lying on his stomach, by the looks, in the flower bed that ran aside the carpark.

"They'll just think he's some sort of council maintenance, mum, don't worry about it."

Jackie hmmed in a disapproving way, raising her eyebrows and returning to her seat. "I'll tell you what the neighbourhood is talking about, that Howard, from the markets?"

"I remember him, mum," Rose cut her mother off quickly. They'd only borrowed his fruit-laden dressing gown, after all. "What about him?"

"He got the biggest fright when he saw me, you should have seen 'im. Said he though' I was a ghost!" Jackie revealed.

"What's so strange about that? You were missing for over a year."

Jackie frowned. "True, I suppose," she looked down in thought. "He's seein' that girl from the bakery. Tiffy or Miffy, whatever her name is, you know. The one with the boggle eyes."

Rose hinted a slight bitterness to her tone and sat forward.

"Mum, it's probably for the best," she tried gently.

Jackie didn't seem to hear her. "It won't last of course," she frowned. "The only reason she even looked twice at him is because he's been on that diet, lost all that weight recently."

Rose nodded, feeling uncomfortable, and again, feeling responsible for her mother's isolation and obvious loneliness. She could have started again, with Pete, over in the alternate universe. But Jackie had returned for her, and it cost her years from her life, and new chance at happiness.

The door flung open, and both Jackie and Rose turned to it quickly, pulled from their thoughts.

The Doctor stood there, grinning, holding his coat in one arm and a scruffy looking Yorkshire terrier under the other.

Rose leaped up. "What's that--?"

Jackie had also leaped up, and raced forward now. "Ohh, isn't she sweet!" she grabbed the dog from the Doctor and started talking to it. "Yes you are, and I bet you're hungry," she cradled the dog, smiling up at the Doctor. "Where'd she come from?"

The Doctor had been staring between Jackie and the dog, and shook himself before responding. "Um. In the gardens. She sort of just...turned up."

The dog started licking Jackie's face. "Oh, look, I think she likes me!" she beamed at them. "I'm going to get you something to eat!" she told the dog and carried her, like a baby, to the kitchen.

Rose stood next to the Doctor, a bemused recognition overcoming her. "That dog..." she pondered.

"Looks an awful lot like _Rose, _doesn't it?" the Doctor nodded, a twinkle in his eyes, referring to the dog her alternate-universe mother had owned.

Rose hit him. "Where'd you really find her?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I was telling the truth, Rose. She just...appeared, and started licking me. Probably a stray. Homeless, by the looks."

"Nice," Rose stared at him, disbelieving. "You do this often? Bring strays into other people's homes?"

The Doctor gave her a knowing, sideways look. "Sometimes." And with a cheeky glint in his eye, moved into the kitchen, calling out to Jackie that he had a great idea for a name.

Rose shook her head, rattled, and sat back on the couch. Had he just insinuated that _she _was a stray?

* * *

"He does what now?" the Doctor tossed Jackie an odd look from the couch.

Jackie was towel-drying the dog, who she'd named 'Billie' at the Doctor's insistence, in the middle of the lounge room floor. "Jus' pops a pill, every night for a couple of weeks. Didn't cost 'im that much either, an' it worked, not like all those other diet scams," she rubbed Billie's ears roughly and the dog tried to catch the towel, play-growling a little. "The fat just walks away," she added, then shrugged. "Was thinkin' of trying it myself, actually."

"Mum, you don't need to go on a diet," Rose said sternly.

The Doctor crouched down next to the terrier and helped dry her with another towel. "Just...walks away, you say?" he asked, trying to sound idle.

"Mm," Jackie nodded, then put the towel down, picking up Billie with both hands and bringing her close to her face. "There you are, isn't that better?"

The Doctor looked to Rose, who shrugged, rolling her eyes. The attention her mother was lavishing on this new dog was wearing thin.

"But...that's impossible," the Doctor stood, joining Rose on the couch again. "Fat doesn't just walk away."

"Just a slogan," Jackie cradled the dog and sat on the couch. Billie immediately leapt from her arms, springing agilely onto it's tiny paws, and shook itself. It's brown fur returned to scruffy mode and she trotted toward the kitchen, where they'd left a bowl of water for her. Jackie frowned a little, watching her go.

"Who's slogan?" the Doctor wasn't letting it go.

Rose stared at him, trying to gauge what had taken him in. "Is it important?"

"Might be," the Doctor shrugged, and turned back to Jackie.

Jackie reached over to the coffee table, picking up a newspaper. "That Adipose lot," she passed the newspaper to the Doctor. He took it, one eyebrow raised, and put on his clever specs.

Rose read over his shoulder.

The newspaper sported an advert, covering half of the page, with pictures of a woman; before and after shots typical of weight-loss businesses.

"_Adipose Industries," _Rose read to herself.

"_The 21st century way to lose weight. No exercise, no diet, no pain. Just lifelong freedom from fat. The Holy Grail of the modern age._

"_You just take one capsule, one capsule, once a day, for three weeks. And **the fat just walks away**."_

"And it works?" Rose frowned as the Doctor handed her the newspaper.

Jackie stood. "Worked for Howard," she turned away. "Billie! Come back out here with mummy," she called, following the dog into the kitchen.

Rose watched her mother go, then turned to the Doctor. "You just _had_ to give her a dog."

The Doctor removed his glasses. His mind was obviously elsewhere as he muttered something about keeping her company. Then he stood. "Well, that's just about enough chit-chat for one day," he turned, and called into the kitchen. "Thanks for the tea, Jackie, we'll see you next time," he held out his hand to Rose, who raised her eyebrows and took it. He pulled her up from the couch to her feet and handed Rose her jacket

Jackie stood in the kitchen doorway, a bottle of milk in her hand, "Oh, you leavin' already?" she asked brightly.

Rose stepped over and hugged her mum. "Gotta go," she patted her mum's back, glaring at the dog over her mother's shoulder. It was scratching at one of the cupboards, whining a little. Rose pulled back. "You be good," she held her mother's shoulders, staring at her.

"And look after Billie," the Doctor called from the doorway, shrugging his coat on.

Jackie looked up from her daughter, beaming at the Doctor. "I will, Doctor, an' you look after yourselves now," she nodded goodbye to them, turning back to the kitchen, and cooing at the dog.

Rose stared a moment longer at the dog and her mother, bemused. The Doctor put a hand on her back, ushering her toward the door. "C'mon," he said lightly.

They closed the door after themselves, Rose still confused by her mother's automatic adoption of the newcomer. Why did it irk her so much? It wasn't like the dog was replacing her or anything.

Rose tried to shake the odd feeling, clocking it up to...well, childish jealousy. He was right, at least now her mum wouldn't feel so alone all the time.

The Doctor was walking swiftly toward the TARDIS; she ran to catch up with him.

* * *

"Why you so interested in this?" Rose asked as they hurried down a crowded street in the business district of London. "Isn't it a good thing? People losing weight?"

The Doctor stuck his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, of course," he shrugged. "Healthier, fitter, stronger, happier people. But where does it go?" he regarded Rose. "Fat doesn't just walk away."

Rose shrugged this time. "Maybe the pill dissolves it somehow?"

The Doctor piped up quickly. "Yes, but where's the by-product? Matter doesn't just...disappear," he stopped at a tall glass building, staring up at it.

Rose regarded the building as well. A silver sign, with a shinier silver logo announced they were standing in front of Adipose Industries.

She turned back to him. "We're taking the front door for once?"

The Doctor grinned at her. "Why not?" he tapped the psychic paper against his hand. "Who do you want to be today, Rose Tyler? How about," he pondered, rocking on his heels. "Health and Safety?"

Rose laughed. "Sounds _enthralling. _As long as you don't make _me _sit through boring lectures on how to safely sit at a desk and climb stairs."

"Deal," the Doctor strode toward the revolving glass doors.

Rose fell into step beside him.

* * *

They'd picked the perfect time to visit the offices, it turned out. A number of reporters were being lead from room to room; the Doctor and Rose fell into step behind them. The group was being lead by a stern looking blonde woman with severe glasses, who introduced herself as Miss Foster.

The Doctor nudged Rose and she startled awake as the lights came up in a lecture theatre. He flashed her a smirk, then nodded to the front of the room.

Rose flushed, embarrassed that she'd nodded off. That had sure felt like a health and safety lecture. She straightened in her seat, trying to look interested and clever.

"Excuse me, Miss Foster, if I could?," a smart looking reporter with black curls called. "I'm Penny Carter, science correspondent for The Observer."

Rose could hear the hint of doubt in the woman's voice immediately.

"There are a thousand diet pills on the market, a thousand con men stealing people's money," Penny carried on. "How do we know the fat isn't going straight into your bank account?"

"Oh Penny, if cynicism burnt up calories, we'd all be as thin as rakes," Miss Foster smiled, and a couple of people in the theatre laughed. "But if you want the science, I oblige," she nodded, removing her glasses and clicking a small remote, which started another slide show.

Rose looked to the Doctor, imploringly. What were they _doing _here? Not _another _powerpoint presentation.

The Doctor had put on his glasses, and was leaning forward eagerly, watching the screen.

Rose shrugged and and settled back into her seat. Well, it couldn't all be about travelling to exotic planets and running for their lives, she reasoned. She'd just have to sit this one out. The Doctor wouldn't have taken interest in it if he didn't think it was important.

The movie on the screen displayed an animation of how the pill worked on the human body.

"_Adipose Industries,"_ a computer voice announced. _"The Adipose capsule is composed of a synthesised mobilising lipase, bound to a large protein molecule."_

The Doctor shuffled in his seat, and Rose flicked a glance at him. He was regarding the screen with a stern look on his face, one eyebrow raised.

The presentation continued. _"The mobilising lipase breaks up the trigycerides stored in the adipose cells..."_

Rose tuned out. It was going to be a _long _day.

* * *

The group were eventually lead through to the call centre, their final stop in the tour. Miss Foster said her goodbyes, encouraging the reporters and health and safety officers alike (Rose flushed and turned away) to speak freely and ask any questions of the staff, reminding them that Adipose Industries had nothing to hide. She gave them a final smile, and left.

Rose turned to the Doctor quickly, whispering. "Good. Can we go now?"

"Not yet," the Doctor was surveying the room speculatively.

Rose followed his eyes around the room, sighing, before spotting a familiar looking red-head. She frowned.

"Donna?" she asked, quietly.

The Doctor looked back to Rose quickly, then followed her gaze.

"That's Donna Noble," Rose pointed, grabbing the Doctor's sleeve.

The red-head they'd encountered the previous Christmas was sitting at one of the call centre desks, headset on, reading from a computer.

"Donna Noble, I don't believe it!" the Doctor broke out a grin, and they hurried toward her.

Donna's eyes glanced upwards as they approached, as she noticed the movement.

"That's a three-week course of pills for a special price of--" she did a double-take, eyes now focussing on the Doctor and Rose, her mouth forming an 'O' shape.

Rose couldn't help but grin as well as they rounded the cubical.

"Oh my god!" Donna stood, the cable attaching her headset to handset stretching to maximum. She suddenly looked confused. "What? Oh, no, I mean, sorry. It's forty-five pounds," she talked into the headset, grinning at the Doctor and Rose, putting her hands on her hips. Her grin fell after a moment, and she rolled her eyes, pointing to the headset. "No, we deliver them," she answered blankly. "Yeap."

The Doctor and Rose stood, both grinning, and waited.

"Three days, usually," Donna continued, sounding more and more rushed. "You'll get a full 21 days' worth of pills, information pack, and an Adipose Industries pendant. Look, could I call you back?" she flicked the Doctor another excited glance. Donna did a 'winding up' hand signal to them, nodding. "Yes, I promise. Okay – okay – bye!" she pipped the last quickly, wrenching the headset from her head and pressing the call end button at the same time. "Phew! That one didn't half have a mouth on it!" she laughed, then in two steps, closed the gap between them and hugged both Rose and the Doctor at the same time.

Rose laughed, hugging back.

"What the devil are you two doing here? Oh my God! I don't believe it! You've even got the same suit!" she cried, aghast, hitting the Doctor. "Dont you ever change?" Donna pulled back, and her smile suddenly dropped, as did her tone as her eyes widened. "Wait. Oh, bugger. There's not somethin' dodgy going on here, is there?"

The Doctor opened his mouth but before he could answer--

"Please don't tell me it's another bloody big spider! Oh," she turned away, grabbing a handbag. "Knew I should've taken that data entry job in Hackney. But no," she rolled her eyes at them. "Dumb ol' Donna was taken in by the thought of a sales commission, wasn't she?"

Rose began to notice the other staff taking interest in all the noise Donna was making.

"Uh, Donna?" the Doctor tried to butt in, obviously also noticing the interest from the other staff.

She jostled the handbag over shoulder. "Come on. Tell me what's going on over lunch," she marched past them, heading toward the lift. "My treat!" she called back.

Rose and the Doctor shrugged at one another and hurried after her.

* * *

They sat in a crowded sandwich shop, Donna talking the whole time.

Rose had to admit, Donna looked a lot happier then the last time they'd seen her. She was bright, bubbly and excited; told them about how she'd travelled a bit of Egypt, and had a couple of other temp jobs to fund her travels, the latest with the call centre at Adipose.

"So, enough about me," she waved her hand, dismissive, shaking a packet of sugar before upending it into her latte. "What are you two doing skulking around Adipose?"

"I wasn't skulking!" the Doctor defended, turning to Rose. "I don't _skulk, _do I?"

Rose laughed. "We were _so _skulking," she teased him, grinning and sticking her tongue between her teeth, before turning back to Donna. "Didn't really figure out what for," she shrugged.

"Investigating!" the Doctor pointed at Donna triumphantly. "We were investigating. There, much less creepy-sounding."

Donna laughed now. "All right, whatever you need to tell yourself. What's up?"

The Doctor breathed in, and paused before responding. "Not sure," he exhaled.

Rose hit him on the arm quickly. "You been dragging me around all morning and _you _don't even know why?"

The Doctor retorted just as quickly. "Yes, well, I wanted to make sure before forming any wild accusatory theories, didn't I?"

Donna was trying not to laugh at them again. "C'mon, Doctor. What's tickled your fancy? Maybe I can help?" she smirked. "Been workin' there for a couple of month's now. Was there for the millionth sale," she raised her eyebrows at them, obviously expecting an impressed response.

"One _million?" _the Doctor gaped. "They've sold diet pills to a million Londoners?"

"Must be more than a million now," Donna sipped.

The Doctor leaned forward. "Donna, have there been any reported side effects? Any anomalies, or people it didn't work on?"

She shrugged. "None. They're calling it a miracle drug. Whoever invented it must be raking in a _fortune."_

"I'll say," Rose muttered, frowning, a small spark in the back of her mind firing. It was now, officially, sounding kind of fishy.

The Doctor turned back to Rose. "No side effects and no failures," he stated. "Twenty-first century Earth medicine just isn't that efficient."

Donna glanced between the pair of them, her eyes wide again. "You think it's some sort of alien drug?"

He mustn't have heard Donna, turning quickly back to her. "Donna, do you have any access to client records?"

Donna nodded. "'Course. Can't sell to them otherwise."

He leaned forward slightly. "Couldn't get me a copy of that list, could you?"

* * *

Rose wrapped on a door, as Donna tucked their list back into her handbag. The Doctor was visiting a different house a few streets away.

A fairly large woman opened the door, looking as though she was ready to go out on the town.

"Stacy Campbell?" Donna smiled.

The woman regarded them both a moment. "Who wants to know?"

"I'm Zezi, this is Davina," Rose introduced as Donna flashed her card. "We represent Adipose Industries and you're on the list of our valued customers," she smiled.

At the mention of Adipose Industries, Stacy's face lit up with a smile, and she let them in, without a second glance at Donna's ID card.

* * *

Donna looked oddly to Rose as Stacy ducked off to the bathroom, asking them to call her if her taxi arrived.

"Zezi and Davina, are you _mad?" _Donna whispered.

Rose shrugged as she cast her eyes over Stacy's loungeroom. A tiny, golden pendant in the shape of a pill was resting at eye height near a photo frame, and Rose took it with a frown, turning back to Donna. "What's this?"

Donna stepped in front of Rose and took the pendant. "It's a gift. We give them away with the Adipose packs. Bit gimmicky if you ask me," she raised her eyebrows down at it, twisting the two sides of the pill. "They wouldn't let staff have them, of course. Couple of the others swiped a few, I think--"

Donna cut herself off as a cry issued from the bathroom. Rose took a step toward the stairs. "Stacy? You all right up there?"

"Yeah," they heard Stacy's uneasy reply.

Rose and Donna barely moved, staring at one another, listening and waiting.

Then; "What?" they heard Stacy cry. "What are you? What _are _you?"

Donna and Rose raced up the stairs.

"Stacy?" Rose called. "You sure you all right?"

"Um," Donna added. "I wouldn't mind a little visit myself, can I come in? Everything all right in there?"

Rose knocked on the bathroom door again. "Stacy?"

There was another cry from within, and then she called for them. "Help me! Oh my god, help me!"

Rose tried turning the bathroom door handle, and found it to be locked.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Donna called.

Instead of answers, they only heard more strangled cries coming from the bathroom.

"Stacy!" Donna cried.

There was a scream, then nothing.

"We've got to help her!" Donna cried.

"I'm _trying!" _Rose took a step back, and kicked at the door a couple of times.

"Oh, sod this!" Donna bashed at the door with her handbag, kicking as well.

They finally broke through, one of the hinges of the door bending. Rose glanced around for Stacy, but couldn't see her. There was a pile of familiar looking purple clothes on the floor, though.

Donna gasped and grabbed Rose's arm. "What the bloody hell is _that?!" _she cried.

A small, potato-sized creature was waving at them from the window sill, then jumped.

"She's gone," Rose blinked, moving to the window, feeling a wave of sadness wash over her.

Donna joined her, still gaping. "You mean, Stacy's..." she trailed off, pointing to the street below.

Rose opened her mouth to answer, then paused, squinting outside into the darkness. Something moving, running along the street.

It was the Doctor. He raced past Stacy's flat, holding something out in front of him.

"C'mon!" Rose jumped into gear, hurrying out of the bathroom toward the stairs.

* * *

A taxi pulled up outside the flat.

The driver called out. "Stacy Campbell?"

Rose raced past him, without a second glance. She heard Donna answer, sounding sad.

"No, she's gone."

Why was she gone – and where, Rose wondered, running in the direction they'd seen the Doctor racing only a moment ago. Neither the strange little potato-thing, nor the Doctor, were in sight any longer.

Rose rounded the corner into the next street, and saw the Doctor standing on the spot, spinning around, holding up a device in his hand. He looked disappointed.

She slowed to a stop, watching him. He looked up to her, shaking his head.

Rose pursed her lips and nodded, resigned. They'd lost it.

* * *

Donna lead them back to her apartment, plonking a cup of tea in front of each of them before taking a seat herself.

"S'pose I'll have to move back home again," she commented idly, "with Adipose 'bout to be exposed," she rolled her eyes at them, trying to laugh.

Rose glanced at the Doctor, and sipped her tea.

He'd already grilled them for every detail they could recall of Stacy Campbell, and the strange little potato-shaped creature that had waved at them from the window sill. He was in deep thought, and didn't speak, fiddling with Stacy's golden pill-shaped pendant, frowning.

Rose turned back to Donna. "You'll get another job. Maybe you can keep this place?"

Donna laughed. "'s too good for me anyway," she shook her head. "Could only manage it with the sales commissions anyway. 's expensive, livin' in London on your own," she nodded knowingly to Rose, then seemed to rethink. "You've got a pretty sweet deal there, kiddo."

Rose smiled kindly, shaking her head. "Mum can barely afford the rent at the council flats."

Donna's eyes widened. "...mum? Rose, I thought-?"

"Oh!" Rose remembered. They'd met up with Donna right after Rose had first thought her mum was gone. "No, sorry – we found her!" she grinned. "Wasn't killed or sucked into hell or anythin'! She's fine!"

Donna beamed. "That's brilliant! Oh, I'm so happy for you."

"Bio-flip digital stitch," the Doctor muttered, to himself, inspecting the pendant closely.

Both women turned to him, Rose issuing a 'what?'.

The Doctor regarded them, then held the pendant forward. "Donna," he started slowly. "You were fiddling with this before Stacy disappeared, right?"

Donna nodded idly, then her eyes widened. "Oh, god. I didn't..._kill_ her, did I?"

The Doctor shook his head very quickly. "Don't say that."

Rose leaned toward the golden pill. "It's a trigger?"

The Doctor nodded.

Donna moaned. "I did, didn't I?"

The Doctor's eyes snapped to Donna again, warningly. "I told you, don't say that. You haven't killed anyone Donna, Stacy was dead from the moment she signed onto Adipose Industries fat-busting contract. And you're _helping _us to stop any more deaths from happening."

Rose turned to Donna, who was nodding slowly, her mouth clasped shut, her eyes a little watery. She felt compelled to reassure, and distract the woman. "Donna, tell us about that woman, Miss Foster. Do you think she knows what's going on, is she behind these little fat monsters?"

Donna was shaking her head, her eyes still bright. "I dunno. Barely saw her. Miss Foster only showed up in the call centre when she wanted more sales out of us," she turned to Rose sadly. "Rose, what's going on? Is Miss Foster an alien or something?"

"_Foster, _of course!" the Doctor thundered, standing abruptly and making both women startle. "Of course!" he repeated, wild eyed to Rose. "Oh, I should've guessed it! This isn't a pill!" he thundered, holding up the golden pendant and standing. "It's the spark of life!"

Rose flashed a glance at Donna, who still looked startled. She turned back to the Doctor, quickly.

"Doctor, what do you mean?" she said definitely. "Who's Miss Foster, do you recognise the potatoes or something?"

The Doctor was on a roll. He grinned down at the pair of them. "They're her foster children! The potato aliens," he dismissed the name quickly, rethinking. "The Adipose," he grated. "_They're _the by-product!" he cried triumphantly.

"By-product of what, human beings?" Donna cut in. "That's just sick!"

"We have to stop her," Rose stated the obvious.

"Oh, but it's brilliant!" the Doctor's abruptness again caused both women to startle. "The fat literally gets up and walks away! As a living, breathing, _conscious _baby Adipose!"

* * *

Once the Doctor had worked it out, the rest was quite simple. They confronted Miss Foster, whose name was really Matron Cofelia of the Five-Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet, Intergalactic Class (try saying that five times after a few glasses of wine, Donna had muttered to Rose).

They'd learnt that the Apipose usually only converted fat, but in a crisis, such as one with Stacy Campbell, they could convert bone, hair and internal organs as well. When Miss Foster's bodyguards pointed guns at them, the Doctor issued his usual 'run!' command, and he, Rose and Donna ended the conversation and ran for their lives.

"It's always like this with you two, isn't it?!" Donna called out.

"Oh yes!" the Doctor grinned back, looking as though he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

They dashed along a deserted corridor, the Doctor skidding to a halt at one point and turning ninety-degrees into a storage cupboard. The Doctor started throwing the supplies out of it, handing them to Rose, who looked at the supplies questioningly before tossing them to the ground with a 'CRASH!'.

Donna puffed to a halt next to them. "Well, that's one solution. Hide in a cupboard. I like it!"

The cupboard back opened out to reveal a big green machine built into the wall.

Before the Doctor could fiddle further with the machine in the wall, a computerised voice announced, "Inducer online."

The Doctor looked to the roof a moment, then ran his eyes over the machine urgently. "Oh no..."

Donna leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. She nodded to Rose. "That's bad, right?"

Rose glanced at Donna, then looked back over the green controls for anything useful, unanswering.

The computerised voice issued another warning.

"Inducer activated."

The Doctor soniced a couple of controls. "Oh, no-no-no you don't!" he grated.

"What's happening?" Rose called.

"She's started the program," he flashed a wild-eyed glance at her.

The computer voice called out again.

"Inducer transmitting."

Rose cut in over the announcement. "Doctor, what does it mean?!"

He glanced over the green device, no longer sonicing. "So far they're just losing weight, but the Matron has gone up to emergency pathogenesis."

"But she can't!" Rose cried.

"But she is!" he locked eyes with her, desperately. "Skeletons, organs, everything. A million people are gonna die!"

Rose and the Doctor stared at one another. She could tell, from the worry in his eyes, that he didn't know what course of action to take to prevent it.

Donna butted in, in the end. "Can't you cancel the signal or something?!"

The Doctor tore his eyes away from Rose's and regarded Donna, pointing. "Aha!"

He fished around in his coat pocket, pulling out the golden Adipose pendant and swiftly breaking it in half. "This contains the primary signal. If I can switch it off the fat goes back to being just fat!"

"Here, then!" Donna scrabbled in her handbag a moment, then held out her hand. She presented a fistful of golden Adipose necklaces.

Rose raised an eyebrow at Donna. "A couple of the staff nicked 'em?"

Donna pursed her lips, then nodded quickly. "All righ', everyone else was doing it, now will they help or not?"

The Doctor's eyes widened as he spotted Donna's offered pendants. "Donna Noble, you're a genius!" he grabbed them, splitting and adding the circuits to the green machine in the wall, sonicing like mad.

Donna gave Rose an look. "If they save a million lives, you won't be looking at me like that..." she trailed off innocently.

Rose continued to smirk.

* * *

With the added pendants of Donna's the Doctor had no problem stopping Miss Foster from converting a million people into Adipose. When he gave the all clear signal, he raced away again, heading up stairs. Rose and Donna glanced at one another, then followed him.

A loud horn signalled the arrival of a huge, circular spaceship, as Donna and Rose crashed out after the Doctor onto the rooftop. Donna shielded her eyes from the bright white lights, in awe, while Rose hurried to the Doctor's side, undeterred.

It was the Nursery ship, he told her.

"Children!" Miss Foster didn't appear to have noticed the trio, as she talked to the tiny, potato-shaped aliens. "Oh my children, behold. I am taking you home."

The Adipose cheered in tiny voices.

"Far across the galaxy, your new mummies and daddies are waiting," Miss Foster continued. "And you will fly!"

A blue levitation beam hummed and reached out from the nursery ship. Rose ducked and the Doctor startled, grabbing her arm to hold her back.

"Take me!" Miss Foster cried. "The children need me!"

The Doctor let go of Rose, and stepped forward, toward the mad woman holding her arms up to the blue beams.

"Matron Cofelia, listen to me!" the Doctor called out.

Miss Foster smiled as the blue beams locked onto her, and she started hovering upward. She waved. "Oh, I don't think so, Doctor. And if I never see you again, it will be too soon."

"Oh, why does no one ever listen?" he muttered, then called again. "I'm trying to help!"

Before they could argue further with her, both Rose and Donna jumped, as the blue beam vanished.

Miss Foster looked more shocked than all of them, as she fell.

* * *

Donna looked decidedly depressed, as the Doctor and Rose delivered her to her apartment.

She sighed, dumping her keys on the table inside the door, then flopping on the couch.

"What a day!" she breathed.

The Doctor and Rose stood in the doorway.

"You all right?" the Doctor shuffled his feet, sticking his hands in his pocket. Rose could have sworn that he almost looked...guilty.

Donna glanced at them a moment, then nodded. "You two sticking 'round? Could get some takeaway from the Greek place down the road."

Rose looked up to the Doctor, who was shaking his head, and she frowned at him.

"Better get on," he nodded, looking uncomfortably between Donna, and the outside world. "Got a...thing to do," he added awkwardly.

Donna laughed. "Whatever you say," she stood up. "Ah, you crazy kids," she hugged Rose. "Pullin' my life apart, in front of my eyes," she joked.

Rose frowned up at the Doctor as Donna pulled back. "Donna, I'm sorry, 'bout your job an-" she rested a hand on Donna's shoulder.

"Oh, stop it," Donna waved, smiling. "'s not your fault," she hugged the Doctor as well. "I'll soldier on."

The Doctor hugged her back. "Why don't you come with us?" he offered.

Rose smiled. Why hadn't she thought of that?

Donna barked a laugh, and pulled back from the hug. "You've _got _to be kiddin' me, Doctor," she shook her head. "Me, keepin' up with you two? You're havin' a laugh."

"Oh, I dunno," he smiled at Rose, then back at Donna. "I reckon you'd be brilliant at it."

"Come with us," Rose pounced on the idea, urging.

Donna smiled at them, more seriously, shaking her head. "I still have a life here," she stepped back, indicating her lounge room. "How could I travel with you two, see the stars, only to return to this?" she faced them with a bittersweet smile. "'s better, safer for _me, _if I give this real life gig another go," she winked at them.

Rose smiled back at her, thinking to herself how much braver Donna was than her.

No, she reminded herself quickly. She hadn't given up on real life. The Doctor, and the TARDIS, _were _her real life now.

They left Donna Noble to her regular, boring, but _wonderful _life.

* * *

_To be continued, in Fires of Pompeii..._

* * *

_Thanks so much for the reviews of Voyage of the Damned! It does mean a lot to me, and convinced me to continue with this harebrained scheme, despite knowing that Rose is returning in the canon series this year. _

_This series from AU perspective is hopefully going to be different to last years, which for the first few episodes, was just a rehash of the series three episodes with Rose instead of Martha (until Rose started leaving a proper impression on things). _

_This series, we're really going to see how the continued inclusion of Rose has changed events. I've figured out how to end the series too, so I can head toward a goal now! _

_As for this episode - lots of significant little spoilers and recurring themes in here; hopefully you spotted them all! I had loads of fun with it and it's renewed my enjoyment in writing the series._


	3. The Fires of Pompeii

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the comments – wow, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Here's Fires of Pompeii for your opinions. Was quite a bit more serious and difficult than the last episode. I've only included this episode because of the Doctor and Rose's previous encounter with Ancient Rome (_The Stone Rose, _by Jacqueline Rayner) which allowed for lots of spoiler-y references. If you squint, you might see an echo from _The Doctor Dances,_ too.

* * *

**THE FIRES OF POMPEII**

Rose hung up her new super-phone with a sigh. "You just _had _to give her that dog, didn't you?"

"Oh!" The Doctor looked up from the console controls quickly, grinning cheekily, flipping switches as if on auto-pilot. "How's little Billie doing?"

Rose shrugged, flopping onto the seat by the console, the springs squeaking below her. "Ask her yourself, it's all she'll talk about! Billie this, Billie that."

"Rose Tyler, don't tell me you're jealous of a Yorkshire terrier?" the Doctor smirked.

"Don't be stupid," Rose flushed and regarded the time rotors, trying not to look at the Doctor.

Of course she wasn't jealous of a _dog. _The fleabag wasn't competition, despite it's scary similarities to the dog Rose the alternate universe Jackie Tyler _had_ replaced her with. Just...mum hadn't even _asked _how she was doing, she tried to reason her frustration.

The Doctor laughed softly from the console, and Rose turned back to him. ready to snap if he pushed it.

He was still flicking switches. Rose wished, just for a moment, that she was still a Time Lord, if only to figure out if he was actually doing something, or just procrastinating, unable to take his hands off his TARDIS.

His eyes sparkled as he flicked a glance at her. "You can't have it both ways. Your mum happy, alone without you, and yourself in the TARDIS, travelling the universe," he said kindly, in explanation. "At least she's not so _lonely _anymore," he added in afterthought, almost in a mutter as he turned back to his dials and switches.

Rose nodded, trying to settle the ruffled feeling, really wanting to change the subject, nodding to the console. "Need some help? Where're we going anyway?" she stood, placing super-phone on the side of it as she joined him, reaching tentatively toward a control that looked like a big, bright transparent yellow button.

"Ahh-ah," the Doctor called out, like a parent warning a child, grabbing her hand before she reached it. "Trust me, you _don't _want to do that."

Rose pursed her lips, trying to recall the formerly-instinctual part of her brain that had allowed her to, for once, understand the TARDIS' controls as though they were a natural extension of her own mind.

She looked back up to the glowing, pulsating rotors, unable to stop the hollow feeling in her stomach. "I knew how she worked, Doctor, I'm sure I did. Now," she took a step back, shaking her head. "It's jus' so..._alien. _All of it," she turned back to him.

He was watching her, his expression somewhat blank. She wanted to reach her mind out to him and express herself, without words, like before.

But those skills weren't hers to keep and use as she liked. So instead, she tried a smile. "'S not fair, is it?"

It was the first time she'd talked about the chameleon arc's final effects on her, since turning back into a human before Christmas dinner at her mum's. She tried, desperately, to shake the lump welling in her throat.

The Doctor pulled her into a hug, one hand around her, the other securely on the back of her head, holding her to him, but he said nothing. They stood there a moment, Rose closing her eyes and forcing back her sudden sense of abandonment. She wasn't alone. How could she begin to think she was alone? She was here, with the Doctor, and that was all that mattered.

She pulled back, clearing her throat. "Anyway, where are we going?" she asked idly, but brightly, telling herself in a convincing tone that she was the human Rose Tyler, and this was who she was meant to be.

The Doctor paused. She could feel him still watching her, feel his unasked questions. Rose supposed he was gauging her mood with his own Time Lord sense of the past on overload. She knew he didn't like talking about what had already passed between them – always moving onto the next adventure. She turned back to him, smiling, telling herself to learn from his example, and just move on.

"Doctor?"

"Right!" he answered hurriedly, gaze returning to the controls as he span a dial and flicked a final switch. "Bit of a surprise, really. Wouldn't want to spoil it," he winked at her.

Rose grinned over at him as they both instinctively held onto the console and the TARDIS whirred to a halt. The tingle of excitement pushed at the lost, sad feelings, masking them.

Then she made a dash for the doors, before he could stop her.

"Hey!" the Doctor called, laughing. She could hear him hurrying after her across the console room.

She opened the TARDIS door and was met by a coarse, grey curtain.

The Doctor stepped up next to her, pulling away the curtain and smiling. "Thought we'd have another go at the ancient and magnificent Roman Empire. Didn't get much of a proper look last time, did we?"

Rose's previously sad thoughts scattered as she remembered their last visit. How could she forget? "Can't see much when you're a statue, no," she watched him carefully, smirking.

"'Xactly!" he fired, excited, spinning back around to her as he stepped out into what looked like a marketplace street. "Can't have you thinking that's all the Romans have to offer!" he held his hand out, wiggling his fingers at her as an invitation.

Rose hurried over to him, a couple of sarcastic counter-comments popping to mind, ranging from genies and psycho killer sculptors, to his candid insistence that Rose had been prettier than Fortuna – not to mention their first, non-body-swapping kiss. But she was too excited to use any of them on him. Besides, he looked so happy, so excited, she didn't want to spoil it by teasing him.

She linked her hand with his and they fell into step beside one another, strolling through the markets, passing men in capes and short tunics and women in full length, exotic colours, all haggling and carrying on with the shopkeeps, reminding Rose of the Borough Markets.

"Of course, relatively speaking," he ducked down to her. "Right now, this is brand new Rome," he whispered, as they passed a shop selling glazed pottery.

Rose just nodded, spotting some jewellery and tugging on the Doctor's arm to drag him in that direction. "So, when are we anyway? I mean," she giggled. "Where are we?" she picked up a bronze shoulder pin in the shape of a tear-drop, filled with some sort of royal blue stone, holding it critically at arms length. A stall holder started to shuffle toward them and she put it back on the table.

He opened his mouth. A mighty roar sounded over the markets, and Rose glanced at him quickly, as he closed his mouth with a pop, looking confused. Then the earth began to shake beneath them.

"Ooh, here we go again!" the jewellery stall holder laughed, grabbing hold of his table.

Used to the much more vigourous shaking of the TARDIS, the Doctor and Rose were able to keep their balance relatively easily, Rose shifting her weight to account for the sudden movement. She watched on, confused, as the locals grinned and continued to laugh, smiling while holding up their tents and tables, as though they were also used to the movement.

The shaking subsided, and the Doctor snapped a glance at Rose, one eyebrow raised. Then dashed off down an alleyway.

Rose hurried after him, into an open courtyard. He'd stopped, in the middle of it, staring at something on the horizon.

She turned, following his gaze, to see a massive, smoking mountain, and frowned.

"Doctor, you sure this is _Rome?" _she started. It looked nothing like the Rome they'd visited last time.

He shook his head quickly. "Pompeii," he grated. "We're in Pompeii. And it's volcano day!"

She closed her eyes. He _had _to be joking; had to be having a laugh. She'd seen pictures of the remains of Pompeii when she was still at school – people, Romans, huddled together, frozen in time, turned to stone, when Mount Vesuvius had exploded.

Rose remembered the images now, as though she'd just turned the pages of the history text. So many dead, taken by surprise, turned to stone, forever. All _these _people, she forced upon herself.

Stone. It was happening again. They were _all _going to turn to stone this time.

"Oh, I _wish _we weren't here right now," she muttered, wondering if any nearby genies might hear. Of course, nothing answered, but the Doctor flashed her a worried look.

At the same moment, the started running, back toward the TARDIS.

* * *

It was gone.

The Doctor had thrown back the coarse grey curtain, to reveal nothing but a dry, stone wall and a bookshelf full of pots. It had taken a moment, and a few frantic questions, to learn that one of the stall holders who considered that particular patch of land his, had sold the TARDIS. He told them to take it up with the blue box's new owner - a man called Caecilius, who lived on Foss Street in a big villa.

Barely pausing to respond once the man had told them this, they ran in the direction the stall holder pointed.

Foss Street, Rose repeated in her head. Caecilius. Get the TARDIS, then get everyone out of there. It was big enough, right?

Rose sure hoped so. She remembered what it was like, being a statue of the Goddess, Minerva. Time, passing before your eyes while you were helpless, frozen and watching, not able to blink, breathe, move your head, anything.

No one should have to go through that only to be dug up by a bunch of smug archaeologists in the future. And she certainly wasn't going to be amongst those gaping, cowering bodies.

* * *

Neither of them spoke of the eruption as they ran, searching for Foss street, spinning around and calling out to merchants and shoppers to confirm their directions as they ran. Eventually, they located the right street. The Doctor barely paused to regard the villa, then dashed forward, inside as the ground began to shake again.

Rose hurried after him, rounding the corner, grabbing onto a pillar for support as one of her feet slipped on the mosaic path of the courtyard. She gripped the pillar, stabilising herself, then dashing after the Doctor, into the main room.

The Doctor was catching a statue, a marble bust of one of the Emperors, as the rumbling silenced and the earthquake ceased.

"There you go!" he handed a man the statue, grin on his face.

The man appeared only slightly rattled, accepting it. "Thank you, kind sir. I'm afraid business is closed for the day," he recovered, replacing the statue in its arched alcove. "I'm expecting a visitor," he explained.

The Doctor grinned, reaching forward and shaking the man's hand. "But that's me, I'm a visitor. Hello!" he strode forward, eyes roving the room.

Rose strode after him, looking for the TARDIS.

"Who are you?" the Roman man hurried after them.

The Doctor swung to a halt, tossing Rose a look that she vaguely interpreted as 'think quick'.

"I am...Gracilis," the Doctor said uneasily.

Rose searched her memory. Vanessa. No, name wasn't _really _around in those days. These days. Fortuna. No, that was a goddess. She wasn't going down that path again. Oh, what was Gracilis' wife's name? Her memories fled as though startled as she grabbed for the memories of anything vaguely Roman, eventually an image of Russell Crowe in leather pushing itself on her.

"Lucilla!" Rose pointed at the Doctor in triumph, finally remembering a name out of _Gladiator, _then span to face the man, dusting herself off. "I'm Lucilla," she rocked back and forth proudly.

The Doctor winced.

"Yes, very well," the Roman man didn't seem to care. "I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade."

"And that trade would be?" the Doctor pushed.

It worked. "Marble," he answered, smling, then introduced himself. "Lobus Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof," he held up a finger, "If you want marble, I'm your man."

Marble, Rose shuddered inwardly. No. Not again. What was it with these Romans and their marble statues?

"That's good. That's good," the Doctor interrupted quickly. "'Cos I'm..." he breathed in, "a marble inspector," he held up the psychic paper to seal the deal.

"By the gods of commerce!" a red-haired woman in a vivid blue tunic startled behind them. "An inspection!" she hurriedly bustled forward, removing a golden goblet from a boy's hand and stepping up to meet them as the Doctor stepped further into the room. "I'm sorry, sir. I do apologise for my son," she tipped the contents of the goblet into the water feature in the middle of the room.

"Oi!" the boy protested at once.

Rose surveyed the room, quickly, her mind not on polite conversation, searching for the familiar blue box...there! In the corner of the room. Relief flooded her and she nudged the Doctor, nodding at it.

The Doctor had spotted it, and was walking purposely in it's direction.

The Roman family, husband and wife by the looks of the pair, hurried after the Doctor and Rose.

"And this is my good wife, Metella," Caecilius introduced. "I... I must confess, we're not prepared for..." he stuttered.

"Nothing to worry about," the Doctor stopped in front of his TARDIS, "I'm sure you've nothing to hide. Although, frankly," he thumbed behind him, turning back to Caecilius. "This object looks rather like wood to me."

Rose heard the wife, Metalla, hiss, "I told you to get rid of it!" as Caecilius hurried toward them again.

"I only bought it today!" Caecilius tried to explain, sounding apologetic.

Rose stopped herself from caressing the blue wood as she got nearer to it, she was so relieved to see it. She smiled and turned back to Caecilius, Metalla and the boy, who looked slightly hungover, staring up from the water feature.

"All right, c'mon everyone, in the box," she withdrew her TARDIS key from the chain around her neck.

"In...?" Caecilius sounded confused, looking to his wife.

The Doctor turned to her, quickly. "Uh, Rose, what are you doing?"

"Yeap, in here," she stepped forward, aiming key for lock. "Before that volcano goes--"

Hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back a couple of steps. "Oh, Lucilla, for shame," he lead her back toward the other side of the room. "We haven't even greeted the household gods yet!"

"The what-ano?" Caecilius watched them pass. Rose heard Metalla laughing, a little nervously.

The Doctor lead her to a marble wall carving of a Roman god and goddess on the far wall, letting go of her to reach into a silver cup and splash water on the feature.

He looked guilty. "They don't know what it is," he whispered, flicking his fingers at the carving. "Vesuvius is just a mountain to them, the top hasn't blown off yet. The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano," he flashed a sorry, worried look at her, still whispering. "Not until tomorrow."

"Yeah, all right, I get it," Rose regarded the household gods; a bearded, half-naked man, and a young woman in a toga, holding what appeared to be a cornucopia, either side of a small, Roman temple. Rose blinked at them, trying not to glare at the rendition of Fortuna on the right. It was all so familiar. Rose subconsciously mimicked the Doctor's movements, flicking water at the wall panel.

"But we can help here," she continued, turning back to him. "What does it matter if there's no people here tomorrow? They'll still find the city when they dig it up in," she waved her hands, "a thousand years or whatever."

"One thousand, six hundred and sixty-nine," he corrected quietly. "And, please, just stop it. We can't interfere," the Doctor muttered.

She shook her head, throwing him a questioning look. "Aren't we interfering by being here? Or are you just going to let them turn to stone?"

The Doctor threw her a half-annoyed, half-concerned look but before he could answer her, a servant's voice rang out across the room. Both Rose and the Doctor turned back to watch.

"Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government."

This, then, was who the family had been waiting for.

'Lucius Petrus Dextrus' was a stern looking blonde man in an elaborate full-length toga, with sharp, light coloured eyes. The moment he opened his mouth and started spouting riddles, Rose tuned out.

The Doctor seemed to understand him, on some level, though. They challenged each other with words, Rose rolling her eyes and sitting herself on the side of the water feature in the middle of the room, throwing a 'not my fault' look at the Roman family's hungover son, waiting for them to both get over themselves.

The boy laughed a little at her movements and Rose smiled back at him. Ye-up, he was kinda cute, for a guy wearing a dress.

"Lucilla, isn't it?" the boy shuffled toward her.

Rose flushed, but nodded, trying not to look evasive, leaning back on her hands, swinging her feet a little.

"Quintus," he tapped his chest lightly, letting another secretive smile slip.

"Ah!" Lucius barked, making both Rose and Quintus jump and pay attention. "But what is the dark, other than an omen of the sun?"

Quintus leaned toward Rose. "Why does Gracilis challenge the Augur? They'll be at it for hours," he muttered.

Rose shook her head slightly as the Doctor pipped an answer. "He...just can't help himself," she tried to explain, badly.

Caecilius took a pause in the Doctor and Lucius' verbal battle to stride forward proudly. "Ah, the moment of revelation!" he said loudly.

With a flourish, he whipped away a cloth from a pedestal, uncovering something that looked like a tile-sized circuit board, made of marble. Rose's smile fell slowly as she regarded it, then flicked a glance to the Doctor.

"And here it is!" Caecilius continued proudly. "Exactly as you've specified. It pleases you, sir?"

Lucius stepped toward it. "As the rain pleases the soil," he responded.

The Doctor was looking at the marble block with his head slightly on one side. "Oh, now that's...different," he managed. "Who designed that, then?"

"My Lord Lucius was very specific," Caecilius smiled, nodding to the Augur.

"Where did you get the pattern?" the Doctor asked, trying to sound idle.

Lucius glared. "On the rain and mist and wind," he answered slowly.

Rose didn't know much about circuit boards, only seeing them occasionally lying around Mickey's flat, back in the old days, when he was pulling apart computers. She did know, however, that they were not usually made of stone, and they didn't _quite _exist in Roman times. She stood, side-stepping to the Doctor, raising her eyebrows at him. He had his intrigued-but-worried look on.

"Doctor, what's it for? They making computers in Ancient Rome?" she whispered.

The Doctor turned back to her. "Circuit board technology wasn't developed until the 20th century. It shouldn't be here."

"They're laughing at us," a new voice, a girl's, rang out across the room. The Doctor and Rose turned, at the same time, to face a pale, sick looking, dark-haired girl in a yellow dress, perhaps slightly younger than Quintus. "Those two," she nodded at Rose as she shuffled forward. "They use words like tricksters, they're mocking us."

"No, no, no. I meant no offence," the Doctor announced quickly.

The mother, Metella, cut in just as quickly. "I'm sorry, my daughter's been consuming the vapours," she said, as though this explained everything.

"Oh for gods, mother," Quintus groaned, rising. "What have you been doing to her?"

"Not _now, _Quintus," Caecilius grated in an undertone.

Quintus turned to his father, but pointed at the girl. "Yeah but she's sick, just look at her!" loudly.

The Augur spoke up, the challenge in his voice again. "I gather I have a rival in this household," everyone turned to him. "Another with the gift."

Metella inclined her head proudly. "Oh, she's been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood," she smiled at her daughter. "They say she has _remarkable _visions."

Things got a little creepy, then. Rose watched them talking; the Doctor, the Augur and this new girl, a tingle creeping across the back of her neck. The girl quickly, docilely, named him 'Doctor'.

The Doctor paused before answering with a cold, "I beg your pardon?"

"Doctor, that's your name," the girl wheezed as her mother grabbed her arm to support her.

Rose didn't realise she was holding her breath. "How d'you know that?" she murmured.

The girl's vision shifted, to Rose then. Rose shuddered, unconsciously taking a step back under her piercing gaze.

"And you..." the girl rasped. "The big...bad...wolf," she goaded.

"Now then, Evelina," her mother cut in, forced laughter in her voice. "Don't be rude."

The Doctor was looking at Rose oddly, with a sideways glance, and held up his hand. "No, no, no, no, let her talk," he insisted.

Rose looked pleadingly to the Doctor. They'd been down this path before, long ago, in the days of the old him. How could someone in Ancient Rome know of the Bad Wolf?

"You both come from so far away," Evelina breathed.

The Augur barked another laugh, his words like ice. "The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries."

The Doctor replied in a low voice. "Oh, not this time, Lucius," he was watching Evelina with questions in his eyes. "No, I reckon you've been out-soothsayed."

"Is that so..." Lucius didn't seem to like this at all, as he snapped, again with challenge in his tone. "Man from Gallifrey?" he fired.

"What?" the Doctor turned back to him, paying attention now.

"What?" Rose repeated dumbly, at almost the same moment. How could they know such things?

"Strangest of images..." Lucius was shaking his head slightly, his eyes more piercing than before. "Your home is lost in fire, is it not?" he demanded.

"Doctor, how does he know that?" Rose said through the corner of her mouth.

Lucius heard her, as his eyes snapped to her. "Heed my words, wolf," he commanded Rose. "For this is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth."

Rose shook her head, ever so slightly. She was undeniably spooked.

The Doctor must have noticed this, as he grabbed her hand. "Stop it," he muttered to Lucius.

"So blind!" Lucius barked at them both. "You run from your futures as you run from the past, ignoring that under your noses, warning you!"

"Who, who's' warning us?" the Doctor demanded.

"Nobody warned us of anything," Rose said shakily.

Lucius glared at her. "The red hood swipes at your tail, wolf."

Evelina cut in before Rose could comprehend this. "Even the word 'doctor' is false. Your real name is hidden," she spoke with a passion that scared Rose to the bone. "It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself," the girl spat. "You are a Lord, sir. A Lord...of Time."

An before the Doctor could even muster a response this time, Evelina collapsed where she stood, crumbling to the ground.

"Evelina!" Metella cried, hurrying to her side.

* * *

Metella and Quintus had lead the unconscious girl to bed. The Doctor had bade Rose go with them, giving her a look of concern, also clearly spooked by their words.

Rose nodded, unsmiling, and trailed after them.

They were putting her to bed, as Rose entered the girl's bedroom.

Metella looked up to Rose. "She didn't mean to be rude, she's ever such a good girl," the woman explained. "But when the gods speak through her..."

The mother unwrapped a bandage on Evelina's arm, and Quintus cried out in worry.

"Mother, what are they doing to her?" he knelt by his sister's side, moving her hair out of her face.

Rose shifted to get a better look, peeking over Quintus' shoulder. Evelina's arm was a dull grey colour, lifeless. Rose gripped Quintus' arm in shock, gasping. It was already happening, stuff the volcano. It was Ursus all over again.

"Irritation of the skin," Metella dismissed it, smiling somewhat sadly up at Rose. "She never complains, bless her," Rose thought she could see tears in the woman's eyes. "We bathe it in olive oil every night," she added dutifully.

"What happened?" Rose asked quickly. Ursus hadn't even been born yet. Vanessa was still in the 24th Century, not due in Rome for another fifty years. Evelina _couldn't _be turning to stone because of him yet, could she?

"Please," Metella was smiling awkwardly up at Rose, and she realised the mother was trying to stop from crying. "Evelina said you'd come from far away. Please, have you ever seen anything like…?" she turned back to her daughter.

Quintus, not taking his eyes off his sister, reached forward, touching her disfigured arm.

"Don't," Rose managed to speak finally. Quintus looked up at her.

"It's stone," Rose frowned. "She's turning to stone."

But _how? _

* * *

Rose hurried Quintus out of the room, leaving Metella tending to Evelina. The boy – no, it wasn't fair to call him that, for he was closer to a man – looked back into his sister's room sadly.

Rose tried to distract him, make him focus. She needed answers. This was why the Doctor had sent her here after them; he could question Caecilius and Lucius; she could work on the brother to find out what was going on.

"Quintus," she held his shoulders. "When did this start happening to Evelina?"

He was looking back at the doorway, tears in his eyes. "I dunno," he shook his head, turning back to Rose. "She fell ill every time she consumed the vapours. I had not thought," he turned back to the doorway, Rose noticing tears flicking from his cheeks as he turned. "Blasted mother!" he grated. "She _knew! _Why didn't she stop it? Is her induction into the Sibylline Sisterhood so important?"

Rose shook her head, reaffirming her grip on Quintus' shoulders. He was losing it. "But the vapours. What are they?"

Quintus turned back to regard Rose sadly, looking younger than before.

"Please," Rose managed. "We can help her. What vapours?"

Quintus looked unsure, glancing between Rose and the doorway to his sister's room before taking Rose's arm. "Here. I will show--"

"Lucilla?" Metella called from the doorway.

Both Rose and Quintus startled. Had she been there long, Rose wondered? She hadn't even noticed her.

The mother stepped forward, looking disapprovingly at Quintus, but still speaking to Rose. "I wonder if I might trouble you to sit with my daughter until she wakes. I must attend to Caecilius and his guest once more."

"Oh, no, I should really--" she pointed in the direction of the main courtyard, but was cut off by the stern woman.

"I insist, please," she stepped forward, blocking their path to the courtyard. Rose could see a pleading desperation in her eyes, and realised the mother was quite scared for her daughter, despite any status she was achieving by consuming the vapours and spouting future echoes.

Rose and Quintus looked at one another guiltily and Metella's glance hardened. Rose suddenly wondered what on earth she had to feel guilty about and let go of Quintus' arm, stepping back toward the woman and nodding. "Of course. Quintus," she turned meaningfully to him, "The Do-" she stopped herself in time. "Gracilis," she corrected, "will need to be advised of my whereabouts. Might you tell him I am seeing to Evelina's bout of _Optatus..?"_

Quintus seemed to comprehend Rose was relaying more than he could understand, but that she was trying to help. "Of course," he nodded, passing his mother's wary glare as he passed, hurrying toward the main courtyard on his own.

Barely a thanks passed between Rose and Metella as the woman trailed after her son.

Rose sighed, stepping back into Evelina's darkened room. She hoped Quintus' relay to the Doctor would bring him to see Evelina's arm for himself.

The ground shuddered, rumbling minutely beneath her as she sat by the girl's bedside.

Oh, right, Rose remembered. Volcano day, tomorrow. She'd been so taken by surprise at Evelina and Lucius' competitive predictions, she'd forgotten that by this time tomorrow, if they didn't get out of there, they'd all turn to stone.

* * *

A servant had dropped by the room not long after, carrying a pitcher of red wine and a grey toga and silver sandals draped over his arm, all of which he offered to Rose.

Rose waved away the wine, immediately mistrusting it at the sight of it, but accepted the clothing, holding it up to the light of the doorway. It'd certainly make her to fit in at bit better. The grey toga shone, slightly, and Rose realised it was a different colour, but the same shape, size, and material as Evelina's yellow dress.

It seemed, then, that despite her apparent harshness, Metella appreciated Rose keeping watch over her daughter. She discarded her jeans and t-shirt quickly, donning the toga and checking the fit in the polished bronze mirror in Evelina's bedroom.

"Hey. That's mine," a weary laugh.

The laugh turned into a cough, from the bed, and Rose spun around to face a tired-looking, but conscious, Evelina.

Rose smiled, sitting at the seat by her bed again. "Hey. How you feeling?"

Evelina struggled to sit up, Rose helping her. "I'm refreshed, thank you," she said in a weak voice, a spark in her eyes that Rose hadn't noticed before. She hardly seemed like the same spooky, sooth-saying zombie from the courtyard earlier.

Rose handed her a goblet of what she hoped was water. "Here. You were out of it for quite a while," she sat back as the girl accepted the goblet with her good hand, drinking thirstily.

The girl nodded absently, handing Rose the empty cup. "It's the sight. I grow more used to it, over time. I am nearly strong enough to do their bidding."

Rose frowned down at the girl. "'Kay. And your arm, what about that?" Rose nodded to the grey-stone arm and hand.

Evelina covered it with her blankets, almost ashamed. "It is a gift of the Gods," she replied hurriedly, in an undertone.

Rose shook her head. "Why? Why you gotta give up your life for these gods, who turn you to stone?" she cut in quickly. "What about _your _life? Haven't you got mates, a boyfriend?"

Evelina looked scandalised. "I am promised to the Sisterhood. They are my life."

"But they don't have to be," Rose insisted. "Look, Evelina, I've been there," she nodded to the girl's stone arm. "It isn't fun. Can't you stop it?"

Evelina's eyes were wide with fear, as though everything Rose talked about was sacrilege. "It's not my decision," she sat back. "The Sisters chose me. I have the gift of foresight," she closed her eyes. Rose wondered if she was convincing herself that this was truth.

"Foresight," Rose repeated softly, trying not to laugh. "Then tell me this, sooth-sayer," she didn't mean to sound harsh, but her voice spat the words. "What can you see happening tomorrow? Hmm?"

Evelina closed her eyes, smiling, obviously grateful to be asked a question she felt she could answer. "The sun will rise. The sun will set. Nothing special at all."

Rose shook her head. "Try harder," she urged.

Tomorrow was volcano day. This girl, she could see so much – seemed to know about the Doctor and Rose, and their futures. Why couldn't she see the eruption of Mount Vesuvius? What the bloody hell was going on?

Evelina just looked scared, her eyes glancing sideways, shiftily, as Rose pressed her to see the truth.

* * *

Not long after the eerie revelation that Evelina knew nothing of the impending eruption, the earth shook beneath them again, and a mighty roar sounded over the province. Rose helped Evelina to her feet, the girl eagerly insisting that the gods were calling her.

They hurried to the courtyard, Evelina on Rose's arm, as the roar persisted.

"What is it?" Metella was calling. "What's that noise?"

"Doesn't sound like Vesuvius!" Caecilius looked confused.

The Doctor and Quintus raced into the courtyard from outside, the Doctor's eyes finding Rose's immediately.

"That's it," the Doctor called hurriedly, motioning the exit. "Everyone out. Caecilius, all of you. C'mon!"

"Doctor! What's going on?" Rose cried over the roaring, pointing to the TARDIS while holding Evelina up with her other arm.

"No no no," he hurried to her side, leading both girls for the main road. "We're being followed, there's no time. Just get out!"

Before Rose could insist that the TARDIS was undeniably the safest place to be, a grille in the courtyard burst open, and a huge, glowing red and grey creature emerged from beneath.

Evelina was shaking, very slightly, and gripped Rose's arm with her remaining flesh hand. "The gods are with us," she whispered.

"Water!" the Doctor called urgently, as the courtyard villa shook under the weight of the terrible newcomer.

"We need water!" the Doctor repeated, pushing Rose into action.

Rose let go of Evelina to stumble forward to the water feature, scooping water from an old goblet and turning, shaking, toward the beast.

Her heart leaped into her mouth as one of the servants approached the rock-monster.

He proclaimed. "Blessed are we to see the gods!"

The monster, his body pulsating with lava, roared, fire spewing from it's mouth, burning the servant instantly to dust.

Rose jumped, the water splashing on her feet. Oh, no, the little goblet wasn't going to be enough. Her eyes roved the piazza, catching sight of a row of brass buckets by the doorway, servants dashing out toward the stack of carafes.

The Doctor stepped up, trying to _reason _with the creature, always the diplomat, even in the face of a huge, conscious, molten rock.

"Talk to me, that's all I want!" he called urgently, holding up his hands. "Talk to me, you just tell me who you are."

Rose grabbed one of the buckets and turned back, ready to make a dash for the water feature. Just scoop up the water, throw it at the monster. Burning rock and water didn't mix, even she knew that.

"Don't hurt these people!" the Doctor was calling up at it still.

She was wrenched backwards, very suddenly, the bucket taken from her swiftly. A hand fastened itself over her mouth, as a number of small hands grabbed at her arms, legs, hair, and dragged her backwards.

Rose tried to call out to the Doctor, as she was carted backwards. A muffled cry escaped her, and she felt a knock to the head.

The world span for a moment, then there was blackness.

* * *

She woke, on a bed of furs. Groaning and wincing at the same time, she reached her hand for her head.

Her hand stopped, part way, restrained.

This woke her up. She looked down, to her hand, urgently. Both hands, and ankles, tied up. She could barely move her head, but caught a glint of silver, and looked up to face a red-hooded woman, holding a huge knife. Red hood, on her tail, just as the Augur had prophesied.

"What's going on, where's the Doctor?" Rose cried, struggling.

The woman standing over her spoke, loud and confident. "The False Prophet will surrender both her blood and her breath."

"What are you on about?" Rose called. "Where am I?"

The woman now looked down at her, her wild eyes flashing.

"Please," Rose tried to slow her breathing, still struggling, watching the woman – and specifically, that big knife – closely. "Please, listen to me. You _don't _have to do this, we can _save _you."

The red-hooded woman's eyes flared as she raised her knife. Rose winced. "You will be silent!" she commanded.

"Oh, she will not!"

Rose laughed in relief, breathing the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, at the sound of the Doctor's voice. She turned to him, smiling gratefully, as far as her restraints would allow her to move.

The crazy woman standing over her lowered the knife, sounding scandalised at the interruption. "No _man _is allowed to enter the Temple of Sibyl!"

The Doctor was grinning back at Rose, ignoring the red-robed women. "Nice toga. You all right?"

Rose nodded, trying to move, then looking to her restraints. She'd forgotten about them at that moment, so relieved she was to see him.

Without another word, there was a sonic buzz, and the ropes fell from her. She sat up on the side of the alter.

The red-robed women had all leaped back at the sound of the sonic screwdriver. Their leader, the crazy woman who'd been about to kill Rose a moment earlier, seethed. "What magic is this--?"

"No no, not magic," the Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver for them to behold. "Not prophecy, vapours, or advanced knowledge of impending doom," he locked eyes with the apparent leader of the women.

Rose stayed silent, rubbing her wrists, wondering how the Doctor had found her. She can't have been unconscious all that long. Last thing she'd remembered, that great bloody rock monster had burst out of Caecilius' drainpipe.

"Now," he grated. "Let me tell you about Sibyl, the founder of this religion. She would be ashamed of you," he revealed. "All her wisdom and insight turned sour," he looked over the other women of the cult, who Rose had to admit, looked somewhat ashamed, then continued. "Is that how you spread the word, hey? On the blade of a knife?"

"Yes," the leader sounded more mad, more devout than before. "A knife that now welcomes you!" she lunged forward.

"Stop!" Rose leaped from the alter, crashing into the woman before she could get near him. They both fell to the stone floor.

"Rose!"

"Unhand me!"

"Show me this man!" a deep, rasping voice cancelled out all others. Rose froze at the sound, as it leeched into her. She turned, slowly releasing the crazed, red-robed woman, to a shiny red curtain at the back of the room. She sat there, wonderingly staring at the vague movements beyond it.

The red-clad women turned toward the curtain in unison, and knelt, except for the leader, who stood, eyes wild and urgent, voice desperate.

"High Priestess, the stranger would defile us!" she uttered.

"Let me see," the low voice cut her off. "This one is different. He carries starlight in his wake."

The Doctor was by Rose's side, helping her to her feet.

"She's very perceptive, now, isn't she?" the Doctor held Rose back as he stepped forward, his hand on her arm; not letting go and defending in a single action. "Where do these words of wisdom come from?"

The voice behind the curtain spoke again. "The gods whisper to me."

"They've done far more than that," he didn't sound at all rattled, but the grip on Rose's arm told her otherwise. He continued, "Might I beg audience? Look upon the High Priestess?" he addressed the room, as much as the voice beyond the veil.

The red-robed women obliged, drawing the curtains aside, revealing another red-clad figure.

The Doctor's grip intensified, yet again, on Rose's arm, and she startled, looking properly at the creature, sitting on a richly furnished bed.

She gasped, gripping the Doctor's arm back with equal shock, then. The woman was entirely made of stone.

* * *

The Doctor had surged forward, demanding a name from the being that was taking control of the sisterhood, turning them to stone, infesting their bodies with dust and rock. His eyes blazed, like lightning, as he spouted Shadow Proclamation decrees at the being, insisting they tell him what and where they were from.

It worked, of course. Rarely would a creature defy the Doctor, once he'd cottoned onto their existence.

Pyrovile, it was called. This woman, this stone woman, was at the half-way stage of turning into one of them. It was feeding on them, and converting them, at the same time.

The Pyroviles had fallen, from the heavens, years earlier. They were using human bodies to reconstitute themselves, unwittingly using the latent psychic talent in the human minds to bond, awakening foresight in their minds.

They got little else out of the Pyrovile woman, as the Doctor told Rose to run, kicking at a grating in the floor, similar to the one the creature had burst out of in Caecilius' villa.

Rose raced ahead of the Doctor, her skin sweating instantly at the heat of the underground tunnel, her throat burning from the stink of sulphur in the air.

She coughed as they ran, and the Doctor urged her onward.

"Into the volcano!" he called to her, over the groans and roars of the volcano all around them. Into the heart of these Pyroviles, these stone monsters.

* * *

"It's always aliens, isn't it?"

The Doctor turned back to Rose briefly, frowning. The running had slowed to a walk, once they'd been sure they weren't being followed.

"The eruption, I mean," Rose explained, stepping over some glowing embers. "These aliens, they cause it, right?"

"Aliens or not, still part of history," the Doctor climbed over a boulder, reaching back and offering his hand down to her.

She took it, heaving herself upwards.

"So," she tested. "Aliens attack London, all the time," she shrugged. "An' you stop them."

The Doctor shrugged as well, letting go of her hand and continuing into the mountain. "Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed."

She pursed her lips at his back, but he didn't say anything else, moving along the rubble cave path.

"And you decide what's what then?"

"No!" the Doctor turned back quickly now, his eyes hard.

Rose reached him, staring up, feeling a little ashamed of herself but not faltering under that solid gaze. He wasn't fooling her. "You've saved me. Even when you shouldn't've. You've said so," she poked him in the chest. "How's Pompeii any different?"

He didn't – or couldn't? – answer her.

* * *

They reached the centre of Vesuvius, and the Pyrovile base of operations. Lucius stood amongst the massive stone creatures, the marble circuit board from before, and a number of others just like it, being carried forward into a small, rock-shaped pod in the centre of the cave.

The Doctor and Rose found out what was going on exactly, with their usual amount of leading and prompting from the Doctor.

The Pyroviles had been stranded on Earth, years earlier, impacting out of control and cut off from their race. With the last of their technology, and their home world lost, they were going to use the marble circuit boards to charge the lava of Vesuvius and convert the human race to stone, to reawaken their kind. The oceans of earth would burn. Everything, Lucius told them, would burn.

This revelation had awoken a fear-driven anger in Rose, but before she'd been able to react or strike out, the Doctor had thanked Lucius, stating this was exactly what he needed.

He squirted water from a yellow water pistol at one of the Pyroviles. As it shielded itself and hissed at what must have been one hell of a sting, Rose glanced about, looking for their exit. It was time to leave, before _they _were burned.

There! The pod in the middle of the room. The one with the marble circuit boards in it. Empty and theirs for the taking!

She grabbed his sleeve and ran, leaping for the opening. Deafening roars boomed around the cavern, and Rose felt the lick of fire on her heels as she landed with a crash, on the floor of the pod. She could hear Lucius screaming, calling after them. The Doctor skidded to a halt, sonic at hand, buzzing the left side of the doorway, and it promptly slid shut.

Not a moment too soon.

From within the pod, Rose could hear the hiss of the Pyrovile's flames, and the temperature within increased, gradually, like an oven. She steadied herself, wiping her forehead, blinking at the marble circuits and breathing heavily in the dense air.

The Doctor mustn't have felt the increase in temperature, at least, not yet. He was regarding the circuit boards. "See? The energy converter takes the lava," he pointed, "uses the power to create a fusion matrix, which welds Pyrovile to human," he turned to Rose, shaking his head urgently. "Now it's complete, they can convert millions."

Rose nodded, wavering, feeling dizzy. "So, stop it. You're allowed, now," she coughed a little.

The Doctor was on a roll, again talking very quickly. "But don't you see? That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano," he ran a hand through his hair, messing it with dirt and sweat. "There _is _no volcano. Vesuvius is _never _gonna erupt. It's the Pyrovile – they're stealing all its power, to take over the world."

He was making her head spin even more, all the words, and no action. She leaned forward, touching one of the circuits, looking in vain for an 'off' switch. "Yeah, all right. Then _stop _it, Doctor," she repeated, hissing as her fingers grazed the side of the wall. It was extremely hot.

He insisted on procrastinating as he tweaked a couple of rocky-looking controls next to the marble panels. "I can invert the system, set off the volcano, and blow them up, yes, but--"

"Doctor!" Rose gasped air that felt like fire, taking one of his shoulders in her fist as she wavered again. "Stop talking and do something before we suffocate!"

The Doctor looked down at her, sadly, barely moving. Rose breathed heavily, her lungs burning. He was close to crying. She lessened her grip on his shoulder, but left her hand there, to steady herself. She knew _that _look. She'd seen _that _look in him a number of times before, when he was faced with an impossible choice. She wondered if suffocation might be the least of their worries.

"That's the choice, Rose," he took a gulp of air, glancing at the marble circuits, the other controls, then back to Rose again. "Pompeii or the world."

Rose shook her head slowly, spoke quietly. "Not good enough." There was always a third option. _Always. _

The Doctor continued, his tone rising. "If Pompeii is destroyed then it's not just history," he explained. "It's me. I make it happen."

"Shut up," Rose cut him off quickly, shaking her head. "You don't make it happen."

He looked away from her, eyes roving over the controls, settling on a lever.

Rose forced him to look at her again. "The Pyrovile's made this happen, Doctor, when they started taking control of these people's minds, turning them to stone."

The Doctor's hands hovered over the lever. "Push this lever and it's over. Vesuvius explodes with the force of 24 nuclear bombs," he was speaking very quietly. "Nothing can survive it. Certainly not us," he didn't look at her as he said it.

Rose edged forward, putting both her hands over his, over the lever, closing her eyes and gripping his hands in hers.

* * *

There was a boom. But it wasn't they who caused it.

Rose gasped, her eyes shooting open, as she leaped away from the lever. "I didn't--!" she insisted.

"Neither did I!" the Doctor also took a step back, staring wild-eyed over the controls.

"Doc-" Rose started, but wasn't able to finish, as the world turned upside-down, and Rose was thrown, at full force, into the side of the pod.

She reached for the Doctor, grabbing his arm as he reached for her at the same moment. They clung to one another, reaffirming their grips. They were thrown from side to side, top to bottom, as they span for what felt like minutes. Then, as Rose's heart left her throat and plummeted into her stomach, they fell again, careening to a halt with a shattering crash.

* * *

In the blackness that followed, Rose dreamed a peculiar dream.

In it, the Doctor was arguing with Captain Jack, as it snowed outside the TARDIS doors.

He was angry with Jack for blowing up the Chula spaceship.

Rose winced, unable to move, only observe, blinking blearily. Everything was out of focus.

Jack was asking stupid questions, about which Time Agency director had sent them, that he'd be happy to share the profits with them both.

The Doctor ignored this, exclaiming that he was responsible. It was on his conscience. His fault. And he'd nearly killed them as well.

"Rubbish," Rose managed to talk, in barely a whisper, waving a hand that felt quite disconnected from her body in dismissal, trying to smile. "Jack can't die."

The Doctor turned to her quickly, panic in his eyes. Rose managed the smile now, and closed her eyes again.

As the dream began to fade, she heard the Doctor, telling Jack to leave now and never let him see him again.

"And don't even _think_ about using the 1940's, Harkness!"

"Why?" she could hear the grin in Jack's voice, through the blackness. "What happens in the 1940's?"

Yes. It was crazy, nonsense, peculiar dream.

* * *

She woke in the TARDIS med bay. The Doctor was leaning over her, frowning, looking at her head. She heard a hum, felt a warm, uncomfortable prickling sensation in her hair.

"Ow," she muttered, trying to swat him away.

"Easy," the Doctor's eyes flicked to her, then back to the top of her head. The buzzing stopped. "There we are," he muttered, putting whatever gadget he'd been using back in the medical kit behind him.

Rose tried to sit up.

"Ahh – steady," he put his hands on her shoulders, easing her back down onto the palette. "Give the stitches time to fuse."

Rose realised she was weak, and couldn't fight him, blinking as even her eyes felt heavy. The memory of the strange Jack dream rattled in her head, and she raked a hand over her forehead, and through her hair.

"Doc...Doctor, what happened?" she winced, remembering what had happened before the dream with a shudder. Flying through the air. No, before that. Vesuvius erupting. But, they hadn't caused it.

"You took a fairly serious crack to the noggin', that's what happened," the Doctor dismissed the weight of Rose's question, running his fingers lightly in a line over the side of her head, above her right ear, inspecting.

Rose could barely feel it. He must have given her some painkillers or something.

"Looks better now," he smiled down at her, easing her up into a sitting position. "Here we are."

Rose let herself be eased, feeling pins and needles in her hands as she pressed against the palette. She looked at her hand sleepily. Instead of her own hand, she saw a grey, lifeless stone one and yelped.

"Hey hey hey, easy, you're all right," the Doctor held her, stopping her from struggling further. Rose glanced back at her hand. It was flesh. She'd only imagined it.

She raised her eyes to the Doctor's, slowly, remembering.

"They're all turned to stone, aren't they?" she asked carefully. "Evelina. Lucius. Quintus, all of them."

The Doctor's eyes shone, as his lips straightened. He nodded, very slightly.

Rose turned away from him, remembering Caecilius, proudly telling them about his marble trade. Quintus, holding his head, clearly hungover. Evelina, laughing weakly at Rose from her bed.

"They're never forgotten, Rose," the Doctor spoke in a low voice, shaking slightly. Rose watched him, feeling stuffed up and dizzy again.

"Oh, time will pass, men will move on, and stories will fade," he continued. "But one day, Pompeii will be found, again. In thousands of years."

Rose closed her eyes, half wanting him to stop talking. Could they have really ever have stopped it? Was time really that predetermined – dictating that it was their time, and there was nothing anybody – not even the Doctor - could do about it?

"And everyone will remember them," the Doctor sounded slightly triumphant at his last.

Rose nodded. She certainly wouldn't forget them any time soon.

* * *

_The next episode is Planet of the Ood..._

* * *

_And now for a footnote! Sorry if I didn't make it clearer, but Rose changed back to human at the end of Voyage of the Damned with the flashes of memory bits, and then the Doctor telling her he was glad she was back to her old self because Time Lord Rose was "just wrong"! Sorry if you're disappointed – all I can say is trust me! _


End file.
